Be My Escape
by KissMeCate
Summary: Allison and Joe have decided to help family by letting their 21-year-old niece, Hannah, live with them. But about a month after Hannah arrives, everything starts to get a little crazy...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that actually appear on Medium. I do own any characters that are new to you, such as Hannah Benoit.**

**Be My Escape.**

Joe and Allison Dubois have three beautiful daughters, Ariel, Bridget and Marie. Raising three daughters under the age of fifteen is a lot of work, and quite a challenge, but Joe and Allison Dubois decide to take on another challenge, nonetheless.

Their 21-year-old niece, Hannah.

Hannah has come to Arizona to get her post-secondary education, and to become an interior designer. Allison figures that Hannah is family, and because she is almost 22-years-old, she shouldn't be any trouble.

Right?

--

**Chapter One.**

"How's lunch going, my beautiful girls?" Allison Dubois asked, looking at her three daughters as they ate lunch.

"It's great, Mom." 14-year-old Ariel said, without a hint of sarcasm for once.

"You seem awful happy, Mom." 8-year-old Bridget remarked, looking at her mother as she moved around the kitchen.

"When am I _not_ happy?" Allison raised her eyebrows, smiling.

"She _does_ have a point," Ariel agreed, nodding, "You _do_ seem awfully happy."

"Why are you happy, Mommy?" 4-year-old Marie asked, her blue eyes wide.

"Oh, you'll see." Allison said brightly, sitting across from Marie and Bridget.

"A surprise?" Bridget immediately said, "What is it?"

"I didn't say there's a surprise." Allison said.

"You didn't say there wasn't," Ariel said, narrowing her blue eyes suspiciously.

"Good point, oldest child," Allison nodded, "Well… there is a surprise."

"When will we find out what the surprise is?" Bridget asked.

"As soon as Daddy gets home," Allison responded.

"When?" Marie asked.

"When Daddy gets home." Allison repeated.

"When?" Marie asked again.

"Yeah, Mom," Ariel agreed, tossing a piece of her long, white blonde hair over her shoulder, "When's Dad going to get home?"

"Well, I don't know, girls," Allison said, "It depends on traffic, and how long it takes the surprise to _get_ here and—"

"Mommy, when?" Marie asked, blinking her large blue eyes at Allison.

"Soon, pumpkin."

"So, what's the surprise?" Bridget asked.

Allison looked at Bridget, "If I _told_ you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now, would it?"

Bridget shook her head, "But, Mommy, I'd _act_ surprised, for Daddy,"

"Too bad, Bridge, you're going to have to wait."

"Well, can you give us a hint?" Bridget asked.

Allison looked thoughtful, "You guys are going to like it… a _lot_."

"That's not a hint, Mommy!" Bridget exclaimed.

"When's Dad going to be home?" Ariel asked, looking slightly impatient.

"Right about…" Allison listened for the crunch of the tires in the driveway, "_Now_."

Ariel, Bridget and Marie all raced to the entryway, and gave Joe Dubois the mistaken impression that his three daughters were that excited to see _him_.

"Hi, girls!" He greeted, smiling at them all.

"Hi, Daddy," Marie waved and Ariel said, "Is the surprise in the suitcase?"

"Well, hello to you too, Ariel Dubois," Joe said, looking at his oldest daughter.

"Sorry." Ariel apologized and then began again, "Hi, Dad, is the surprise in the suitcase?"

Joe shook his head, "Ariel, you're almost fifteen, I would think you'd be a _little_ more mature."

Ariel shook her head, and Bridget said, "Where's the surprise, Daddy? Is it in the suitcase?"

"Nope." Joe shook his head.

"Surprise?" Marie looked at her father expectantly.

"Surprise!" A voice exclaimed from the doorway, causing the three Dubois daughters to look up quickly, and find a slim, petite, dark-haired girl with shining blue-gray eyes.

"Hannah!" Ariel practically screamed, before dashing up to her dark-haired cousin and throwing her arms around her.

"Wow, Ariel! Look at you, you're practically all grown up!" Hannah Benoit exclaimed, hugging Ariel.

"Hi, Hannah!" Bridget exclaimed, "Are you here to visit for the weekend??"

Hannah looked at Allison as she scooped Marie up into her arms and then back at Bridget, "Not exactly, Bridge."

"I thought you visiting for the weekend was the surprise," Ariel remarked.

Hannah shook her head, "Not exactly."

Allison cleared her throat, "Girls, here's the surprise… your cousin Hannah is going to live with us!"

"Really?!" Ariel exclaimed.

Allison nodded, smiling, "Hannah's going to be going to college here, in Phoenix, and as soon as I found out, I told your dad, and we decided that, rather than have Hannah pay lots of money to live with people she doesn't know, she can live here, with us." She looked at her three daughters, who looked absolutely thrilled at the prospect of their 21-year-old cousin living with them and she said, "Ariel, she'll be sharing a room with you until Daddy finishes the addition."

"Awesome!" Ariel beamed, "This is gonna be just like having an older sister!!"

Hannah smiled at her and Joe said, "Girls, why don't you take Hannah's things into Ariel's room for her?"

"All right!" Ariel, Bridget and Marie all said in unison, and then they started dragging Hannah's luggage into Ariel's bedroom.

"Oh my, god, just look at you, Hannah Marie, you're all grown up!" Allison exclaimed, opening her arms as she beamed at her niece.

Hannah smiled too, as she hugged Allison tightly, "Thanks _so_ much for letting me live with you guys, Aunt Ally and Uncle Joe,"

"Oh, it's no problem, honey," Joe said, "We're happy to help you."

"Yeah, kiddo." Allison brushed Hannah's dark hair with a free hand, "We're happy to help you."

"Well, thanks anyways." Hannah said, "I really do appreciate it."

Allison smiled and said, "You're family, that's what family does for each other."

"That's what people tell me." Hannah said, smiling faintly.

"You should probably go see the girls, before the tear _everything_ out of your bags," Joe said, grinning at her.

Hannah smiled at her aunt and uncle before walking down the hall, "Oh, girls, who wants to help their _favorite _cousin unpack?!"

There was a loud exclaim of 'I will!' from all three girls, and Allison smiled, "This is going to be good for the girls… Hannah is going to be good for the girls."

* * *

"Hannah, this is going to be so much fun!" Ariel exclaimed as she, Bridget and Marie helped their cousin to unpack.

"Yeah, you can help us with our homework, and take us out…" Bridget said, "And watch cartoons with us."

"Sounds fun, Bridge." Hannah smiled at her cousin as she hung up a couple of pairs of jeans in the closet she and Ariel were going to be sharing.

"She's not gonna have time for us _all_ the time though," Ariel said, "She's going to be busy with school, right, Hannah?"

Hannah nodded, "I _am_ going to be pretty busy with school, but I'll try to make some time for us every day, okay??"

Bridget nodded and looked as though she was about to say something else when Allison stuck her head in, "Bridget, Ariel, have you finished your homework?"

"Uh, sort of?" Ariel offered, biting her lip.

"Sort of?" Allison shook her head, "Go finish your homework and then you can hang out with Hannah."

Bridget and Ariel left the room to get their homework, and Marie looked at Hannah, "Scooby-Doo?"

"You want to watch Scooby-Doo, Marie?" Hannah asked, smiling.

Marie nodded, smiling shyly at her older cousin, and Hannah nodded, "Sounds good to me." She looked at Allison, "Do you need any help making dinner, Aunt Allison?"

"No, honey, you occupying Marie is enough," Allison responded, smiling, knowing she had been right. Hannah living with them was going to be good, not just for the girls, but for _all_ of them.

* * *

**So this was more of an introduction, than an actual chapter, but I hope you guys liked it anyway. This is my first attempt at a Medium fic, and I hope you guys liked it. And if you didn't, keep reading because I promise it's going to get better! Please read and review. :)  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two.**

It had been almost a month since Hannah had moved into the Dubois household, and things were going great. Hannah loved school, and she loved helping Ariel and Bridget with their schoolwork, and she was making Alison's every day life a whole lot easier.

"Okay, girls, I have a meeting with the D.A.," Allison said, as she exited the house one day in early October, "Daddy should be home in time to start supper… you have everything handled, Hannah?"

Hannah looked up from where she was sitting, playing with Marie on the grass. "Yeah, Aunt Allison, I have everything handled."

"Okay, you four, come here and give me some love." Allison opened her arms.

The four girls all stood up and hugged her before she got into the car, "Bye, girls, behave for Hannah!"

After Allison backed out of the driveway, Hannah picked up the book she was supposed to be reading and continued watching the girls as they played in the front yard.

Things seemed to be going fine, until Ariel walked up to Hannah and said, "Hannah, that car's been around the block, like, four times already."

Hannah looked up and spotted the car Ariel was talking about. It was a blue Chevrolet Impala, and the oldest of the Dubois girls was right, it had been around the block four times.

Hannah looked back at Ariel and said, "Maybe they're just new to the neighborhood, Ariel."

"Are you sure?" Ariel didn't look so sure herself.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Hannah responded, smiling encouragingly at her cousin.

"Okay," Ariel still didn't look too sure, but she went back and played with her sisters anyway.

* * *

The second day they spotted the blue Impala going around the block several times, Hannah decided it wasn't nothing. Ariel also spotted it and she said, "Hannah, it's there _again_."

"I know, Ariel." Hannah nodded, "Come on, let's take your sisters inside and then we'll go see if your mom has a free minute."

Ariel nodded, and helped Hannah by leading Marie and Bridget inside.

"Uncle Joe," Hannah walked up to Joe, who was sitting at the kitchen table, "Um, Ariel and I have to go talk to Aunt Allison about something. Is it okay if we leave Bridget and Marie here?"

"Wait, Hannah, what do you and Ariel have to go talk to Allison about?"

"This car that keeps circling the block." Hannah decided it was best to tell the truth.

"Why do you have to go talk to Allison about a car that keeps circling the block?" Joe asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It's giving Ariel and I a bad feeling," Hannah said, "It's been two days in a row the car has done this."

"Call your aunt first," Joe sighed, "You can leave Bridget and Marie with me."

"Thanks, Uncle Joe."

* * *

Allison was sitting in D.A Manuel Devalos' office, looking over a case file, when the D.A himself stuck his head in, "Allison, people are here to see you."

"People are here to see me?" Allison raised her eyebrows.

Devalos nodded and Allison stood up and walked out to the hallway where she found her niece and her oldest daughter standing.

"Hannah, Ariel, what are you two doing here?"

"We had to talk to you about something, Aunt Allison." Hannah said.

"Well, are you two okay?" Allison asked, looking concerned.

"Mom, we're fine," Ariel said, "We just have to talk to you about something, if you have some free time?"

Allison nodded, "Of course, girls, come in,"

Ariel and Hannah followed Allison into her boss' office, and Allison looked at them expectantly, "What's up, girls?"

"Mom, we think there's something up in the neighborhood," Ariel said.

"What do you mean, Ariel?" Allison asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"We noticed this car that's been circling the block for the past two days," Hannah said, "And it gives both of us a bad feeling."

"Well, honey, maybe it's just someone new to the neighborhood," Allison said, looking from her niece to her daughter.

"Someone new to the neighborhood who always slows down in front of our house?" Ariel said, raising her eyebrows skeptically.

Allison paused, thinking over what her daughter had just said, and then concluded, "You have a point, Ariel. Hey, if I brought Detective Scanlon up, do you think you could describe the car?"

Hannah and Ariel both nodded.

"All right, girls, I'm going to go call him and see if he's around." Allison said, and she left the room, pulling out her cell phone.

"Scanlon." Lee Scanlon's voice came from the other end.

"Hi, Lee, it's Allison." Allison said, "Listen, I was wondering if maybe you had a free moment to come up, I have someone who wants to talk to you."

"Sure thing, Allison, I'm just around the corner, I'll be there in five minutes."

* * *

And sure enough, five minutes later the tall figure of Detective Lee Scanlon appeared in the D.A's office.

"You have people who want to talk to me?" Lee said, looking at Allison expectantly.

Allison pointed into Devalos' office, where Ariel and a dark-haired girl Lee didn't recognize were sitting.

"Your daughter and her babysitter?" Lee raised his eyebrows.

"A car's been circling our block the past two days, more than once, and slowing down in front of our house." Allison said, "They came in and told me about it, and I figured you would be able to help, somehow."

"I can listen to them describe the car, but without a license plate number, I can't do much, Allison." Lee said.

"I think you listening to them will be enough," Allison nodded.

"All right," Lee nodded and walked into Devalos' office.

"Hi, Detective Scanlon," Ariel greeted.

Lee nodded at her, "Ariel."

"This is Hannah," Ariel introduced, "Hannah, this is Detective Scanlon, he works with my mom."

"Hi." Hannah gave a wave.

"So, Ariel, your mom tells me you two came in because a car has been circling your block," Lee said, "Can you two describe the car?"

"It was really dark blue." Ariel said, "And it looked pretty old."

Lee looked at Hannah, "What do you think, Hannah?"

"It was a Chevrolet Impala, probably made in the late 70's or later, and I think it'd had some work done, because it wasn't making any of the noises a car that old should be making." Hannah replied.

Ariel coughed to cover her laugh, and Lee looked slightly incredulous.

Hannah looked from Ariel to Lee, and said, "What?"

"How do you know so much about cars?"

"I dated a mechanic for like, 2 years." Hannah responded, shrugging, "I learned some stuff."

Lee looked a little bit impressed and said, "Did either of you get a look at the license plates?"

Ariel and Hannah both shook their heads, "Sorry."

Lee shook his head, "It's no big deal, girls, I'm sure the guy won't be around again, and that it was probably just a freak coincidence. But if he does show up again, give me a call, okay?" He handed both girls his card and said goodbye to them both.

Lee walked out and met up with Allison, and she said, "Did you get anything from them?"

"Ariel's babysitter gave me a pretty good idea of what to look for." Lee responded.

"Oh, Hannah isn't Ariel's babysitter." Allison said, "She's my niece,"

"Oh," Lee looked surprised, "Well. Anyways, Hannah gave me a very specific idea of what the car looks like, but neither girl really looked at the plates."

"Huh," Allison sighed, "Hopefully the car won't come around again."

"Hopefully," Lee nodded in agreement, "But just in case, I gave the girls my number."

Allison smiled, "Thanks, Lee, I really appreciate it."

Lee shrugged, "It's nothing, Allison."

* * *

**A short little update. The blue car and Lee Scanlon are going to play bigger parts as the fic goes on :) Thank you so much for the reviews, please keep it up! :)  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three.**

**1 Week Later.**

_Allison felt like she was watching a horror movie. She was watching a man, a tall, dark, shadowed figure, butcher a young girl. _

_Allison couldn't see who the girl was at first, all she could see was the girl's pale legs, hanging over the edge of the table, and the girl's pale pink hoodie sweatshirt that had UPX in blue lettering. _

_UPX… Why did that seem so familiar?_

_Then suddenly, the light overhead flicked on and the face of the young girl became very clear. She had long dark hair, pale skin that was now stained with blood and her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes were open…_

_Allison felt like screaming. The girl that was dying slowly… she looked exactly like Hannah._

Allison jerked awake, gasping for breath. When she realized it had been a dream she let out a deep sigh of relief. Making sure she hadn't woken Joe, she crept out of bed and walked down the hall to Ariel's room, and poked her head in.

She knew the girl in her dream wasn't Hannah, but she had to make sure Hannah was still home all the same.

She saw her oldest daughter sprawled out on her bed, snoring lightly and on the other side of the room, Hannah was sleeping soundly, her dark hair that was so unlike any of Allison's daughters' fanned out behind her.

Allison smiled faintly as she realized her niece still slept in the same position as she always had as a child, on her stomach, with her arms hidden under her pillows and the blankets pulled up to her nose.

Allison closed the door quietly, and then walked to the living room, grabbing a blanket and an old photo album.

The first photo in the entire album was one of Allison, and Hannah's mother, Allison's cousin, Gisele. Hannah looked a lot like Gisele did, when she was younger, with fair skin, dark hair and shocking eyes, though Gisele's hair was black, where Hannah's was brown, and Gisele's eyes were green, when Hannah's were blue.

Gisele and Allison had been the very best of friends growing up. They had been near polar opposites, with Allison being the calm mediator, and Gisele being a wild child, but they were nearly inseparable.

But as they grew older, they grew apart. Allison had chosen to grow up and become a good mother and wife, while Gisele had remained the same wild child she had always been, even after Hannah had been born.

Allison turned the page and found a picture of when Hannah had been about four, and Gisele had dropped her off to visit for awhile with Allison and Joe. Hannah had been a happy child, which was strange, considering what she had to deal with…

"Aunt Allison?"

Allison looked up and found her niece looking at her with sleepy blue eyes. "Hannah, honey, what are you doing up?"

"I don't know," Hannah looked confused, "I think I got up to get a drink."

Allison stood up and led Hannah into the kitchen, "I'll get you something to drink."

"What are you doing up, Aunt Allison?" Hannah asked.

"Just a bad dream," Allison responded.

"Oh," Hannah nodded slowly, "Was it about a case?"

_I hope not_. Allison thought to herself, "I don't think so,"

Hannah nodded again, sipping the water her aunt had poured for her. When she finished her water, she turned to put her glass in the dishwasher, and Allison noticed the shorts she was wearing. They were black, and on the back, in white letters it said _UPX._

_Just like in her dream_.

"Hannah, wait," Allison said.

Hannah turned and looked at her aunt expectantly.

"What's UPX?" Allison asked.

"Sorry?"

"UPX. On the back of your shorts?"

"It's University of Phoenix, Aunt Allison." Hannah responded, "Why?"

Allison took a deep breath and then shook her head, "No reason, honey. Go back to bed."

"Okay." Hannah smiled and kissed Allison on the cheek, "See you in the morning."

"Night, sweetie." Allison forced a smile on her face, only until Hannah had disappeared into the room she shared with Ariel, and then a frown took its place.

UPX was University of Phoenix, which was where Hannah went to school. The girl who looked almost identical to Hannah was also a student at the university.

Allison let out a slow sigh. She would have to talk to Devalos in the morning.

* * *

When Allison entered the District Attorney's office the next morning, she found Detective Lee Scanlon already there and they were going over a case file.

"Allison, please, come in." Devalos nodded at her as she stuck her head in.

Allison walked in, and said, "I have to talk to you guys about a dream I had last night."

"Before you tell us about your dream, we have to tell you about this case that just came in." Devalos said.

"Okay," Allison nodded and sat beside Lee and across from Devalos.

"We have a new serial killer on the loose." Devalos said.

Lee nodded, "Stalking and killing girls from University of Phoenix."

"University of Phoenix." Allison repeated, "What… what do the girls look like?"

Lee spread out the photos on Devalos' desk, and Allison gave a small gasp.

Every single one of the girls had dark hair and blue eyes.

Lee noted this, but said, "The serial killer is going through the list of all students alphabetically, by their first names. Amanda Halloway, Bree Anderson, Celeste Deangelo, Dawn Crowell, Elizabeth Belding, Faith Llewellyn and Virginia 'Ginny' Mac Cloud."

Allison looked at the photo of Ginny Mac Cloud, and looked at the two men, "I had a dream about her last night, that's what I had to tell you about."

"Did you see who did it?" Lee asked automatically.

Allison shook her head, "He was tall. That's all I know… and he was killing her in a basement." She paused, "Who's the next girl on the list?"

Lee looked at the list and said, "The next girl on the list with dark hair and blue eyes is… Hannah Benoit."

* * *

**So this was a short one, but I think I put quite a bit in it. A serial killer, learning some more about Hannah and her family, and a little bit of a shock. Thank you for all the reviews, please keep it up! :)  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**So it's been weeks, and I'm sorry, but I had a lot to do and I'm really busy these days, so unfortunately I won't be able to update as often as I used to. Thanks for your patience. :)**

* * *

**Chapter Four.**

Allison felt like she couldn't breathe. She almost felt like she was having a panic attack, but she took a deep breath and said, "Hannah Benoit?"

Lee nodded, "Do you know a Hannah Benoit?"

Allison nodded, "And you do too. Hannah Benoit is my niece."

Lee looked surprised, "Are you serious, Allison?"

Allison practically glared at him, "You think I would _joke_ about this?!"

"No, no, of course not." Lee shook his head hastily.

"Allison, where's your niece right now?" Devalos asked, looking at Allison seriously.

Allison had to think about it for a few moments and then said, "She's at home with the girls."

"Well, you might want to call her." Lee said. "Make sure she doesn't go anywhere, or open the door to anyone unless it's us."

"_Us_?" Allison repeated, raising her eyebrows.

"You and I are going to talk to Hannah about her protection."

"Wait, Lee… what?" Allison looked confused.

"We're obviously going to put her in police protection," Lee said, pulling on his coat, "We're not just going to let her walk out there when a serial killer is looking for girls who fit her profile perfectly. Until a team is assembled, I'll look after her."

Allison almost smiled at Lee, "Thank you."

* * *

"Girls, Mommy's home!!" Allison called as she and Lee entered the house.

"Hi, Mommy!" Bridget and Marie came skipping from where they were seated on the couch to the entryway.

Ariel waved without getting up, but she looked a little bit confused when she spotted Detective Scanlon.

"Ariel, where's Hannah?" Allison asked, looking around expectantly.

"Hannah's in the shower," Ariel responded. "Hi, Detective Scanlon."

"Hi, Ariel, girls." Lee nodded at them.

Allison looked at Lee and then said, "I'll go see if Hannah's almost finished."

"Is Hannah in trouble?" Ariel asked automatically.

Allison shook her head, "No, honey, Hannah isn't in trouble."

Allison walked down the hallway to the bathroom and knocked on the door, before opening the door a crack, "Hannah? It's Aunt Allison,"

"Aunt Allison?" Allison heard the shower curtain rustling and Allison stuck her head in and found Hannah, sticking her head out of the shower, with her hair drenched and water dripping off her. "I thought you had work today?"

"I did," Allison let out a slow breath, "Honey, can you come out? I'd like to talk to you about something."

"Sure thing." Hannah sounded a little bit confused, but as Allison closed the door, she heard Hannah turning off the water.

* * *

Not even five minutes later, Hannah was sitting in front of Lee and Allison. Her dark hair was soaked and hanging down her back, and she was wearing a baby blue housecoat that was a couple sizes too big for her, but was pulled tightly around her, as she looked at the two in front of her with apprehensive blue eyes.

"What's going on, Mom?" Ariel asked, obviously confused by the fact that Detective Scanlon was in their home.

"Nothing, Ariel. Detective Scanlon and I just need to talk to Hannah about something… can you take your sisters and watch _Hannah Montana_ or something with them?"

"Sure…" Ariel looked quite _unsure_ actually, but she nodded and ushered Marie and Bridget into the room she shared with Hannah.

Once the three younger girls were gone, Hannah looked at them, "What's going on?"

Allison looked at her beautiful niece, and held back the urge to start crying. "Hannah, honey, we have something to tell you, and it's not going to be easy to take… not at _all_."

"All right?" Hannah looked confused.

"Ms. Benoit," Lee began, taking a deep breath, "We have reason to believe that a serial killer is intending to make you his next victim."

_Way to beat around the bush, Lee._ Allison thought. She looked at Hannah, and watched her niece's dark eyebrows shoot up her pale forehead in surprise.

"What?"

Lee nodded, "We've discovered the bodies of seven girls between the ages of nineteen and twenty-two, with your basic build and features, who have all been murdered in a similar fashion, and all attended University of Phoenix."

Hannah looked at Allison, "_That's_ why you wanted to know what UPX was." Allison nodded and she looked at Lee, "How do you know I'm the next girl that's going to be killed? There are lots of girls at UPX who look like me."

"We've discovered the way he chooses his victims," Lee explained, "He chooses the girls alphabetically. He goes through the list of girls attending UPX, and finds the first one who has brown or black hair and blue eyes." He looked at Hannah seriously, "You're the next one on the list, Ms. Benoit."

"We understand if you're scared, honey." Allison said, "But everything's going to be okay. Detective Scanlon is going to protect you."

Hannah looked at Lee and blinked, "How?"

"I'll be escorting you to your classes, there's always going to be an officer here, at the house, even while you're in class, and you're not to go anywhere by yourself." Lee said, "And I'm going to need you to be _completely_ honest with me, Ms. Benoit. I know it may seem like an invasion of privacy, but if you get any phone calls, text messages, e-mails, _anything_ that makes you question what the sender is trying to say, you're going to have to let me know." He looked at her, "Can you do that?"

Hannah nodded slowly and then said, "Yeah. I can do that."

Allison raised her eyebrows, "That's all you have to say?"

Hannah nodded again, "What else am I supposed to say?"

Allison pursed her lips before shaking her head, "Nothing, honey… nothing." She reached out a hand and stroked her niece's dark hair, "When's your first class today?"

"In about an hour," Hannah responded.

"Go get ready then." Allison nodded, "Just come and say when you're ready, and then you and Lee can go."

Hannah nodded for a third time, and stood up, walking to the bathroom.

"She took that really well," Lee said, looking confused.

"That's what you think." Allison said, "That's just Hannah, though. You give her something earth-shattering, life-changing, and she just absorbs it like it's nothing, or that's what it looks like. But my Hannah is incredibly gifted at concealing her emotions," Allison said, "That's just the way she became."

* * *

"No way." Ariel looked as though she couldn't believe a single word coming from her older cousin's mouth. Her blue eyes were wide, and her mouth was hanging open slightly.

"Way." Hannah nodded, blowing her dark hair dry with the hair dryer.

"Wow." Ariel let out a soft sigh, "I guess the Benoit side of the family just attracts trouble, like Mom says."

Hannah chuckled lightly, "I think we must. The women Benoit's at least."

Ariel looked at Hannah and said, "Aren't you scared, Hannah?"

Hannah shook her head, "Ariel, I've got a psychic aunt, and the cops protecting me, plus," She added as an afterthought, "I've had crazy ex-boyfriends, so I'm pretty much a pro at avoiding psychopaths."

Ariel smiled weakly and then said seriously, "I'm scared."

"Don't be." Her cousin looked at her seriously, and put two hands on Ariel's shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes, "Ariel, don't be scared for me, or for yourself, for a second, okay? Detective Scanlon is gonna protect me, and there's gonna be another police officer at the house, _all_ the time, even when I'm not here." Hannah pulled Ariel into a hug, "You're gonna be safe, and nothing's gonna happen to me."

"Promise?" Ariel sounded as though she was four, instead of fourteen.

Hannah nodded, "I promise." She released Ariel and continued to get ready for class, pulling her long hair into a ponytail, "Now, don't you breathe a _word_ of this to Bridget or Marie."

Ariel shook her head, "I won't. I promise."

"Good girl." Hannah smiled, "Now, I've gotta go, but when I get home, we can catch up, okay?"

Ariel nodded, "Okay, bye, Hannah."

Hannah walked out of the bathroom and grabbed her purse as she made her way to the kitchen. She found Lee and Allison talking in hushed voices, but the both stopped when they spotted Hannah.

"I'm ready to go."

"All right," Lee and Allison said in unison.

Lee looked at Hannah, "We'll be taking your car, Ms. Benoit, it would be a bit less conspicuous than us showing up in a squad car."

Hannah nodded to show she understood, right before she was pulled into a hug by her aunt.

"Be safe, okay? Promise me, you'll be safe, Hannah." Allison said seriously.

"I promise." Hannah nodded, "Honest, Aunt Allison, I only have one class this afternoon, how much trouble can I get into?"

"You're a Benoit, aren't you?" Allison smiled, before reaching up to kiss Hannah's cheek, "I'll see you two for supper."

* * *

Hannah and Lee made their way out to the car, and Hannah noted that Lee looked as though he was going to protest when Hannah hopped into the driver's seat.

Once he was in the passengers seat, Hannah looked at him, "Detective Scanlon, I might be getting stalked by a psychopath, but I'm pretty sure that I'm capable of driving my own car."

"I didn't say anything."

"I could tell from the look on your face," Hannah replied, as she backed the bright blue Mini Cooper out of the driveway.

"Oh." Lee nodded slowly.

They sat in silence for a few moments, until Lee gave her a strange look, "Is this Guns'N'Roses?"

Hannah nodded, "November Rain. One of my all-time favorite tunes… you can skip around on the CD, there's all kinds of stuff on it, if you're not into Guns'N'Roses."

"No, no." Lee shook his head, "I love this song, I just find it kind of weird that you like it too."

"What makes you say that?"

"You're a little bit young to be into hair bands and this music, aren't you?" Lee asked, as _Satisfaction_ by the Rolling Stones started playing.

Hannah shrugged, "I'm gonna be twenty-two soon… but this is the sort of stuff I listened to when I was growing up. My mom wasn't really a… conventional mother, let's say, so the way she brought me up, definitely influenced my taste in music."

Lee nodded slowly and watched her drive for a little while before Hannah said, "So, did you always want to be a cop, Detective Scanlon?"

"I think, since we're going to be spending a fair bit of time together, you can call me Lee." Lee said.

"Only if you call me Hannah, and drop that _Ms. Benoit_ crap." Hannah replied.

"Sounds fair." Lee nodded, smiling slightly, "And no, not always. At one point in time, I wanted to be a doctor… well, at least that's what my parents had me convinced I wanted to be."

"What stopped you, being a doctor not glamorous enough?" Hannah asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I didn't like it." Lee admitted, wondering why he felt like he could talk so freely around Hannah, and feeling slightly strange because he could.

"Oh," Hannah nodded, "That makes a lot of sense."

They were in silence once again, and they stayed this way until they pulled into the parking lot at University of Phoenix.

They were in silence until they almost reached the building they were going to enter.

"What class do you have?" Lee asked, looking at her.

"Visual Arts," Hannah responded, and then smiled slightly, "And I know _exactly_ how I'm gonna explain why I have you."

"You could just tell them I'm a cop." Lee said, slightly concerned about the smile on her face.

"Yeah, and how do I explain why you're there?" Hannah raised her eyebrows.

Lee was silent and Hannah nodded, "Exactly. My explanation is gonna work. Just you wait and see."

* * *

Hannah was right, Lee discovered, as they walked into her classroom, and a tall woman with bright red hair came towards them, "Ms. Benoit, would you like to explain your guest?"

"He's my prop." Hannah replied, which caused Lee's eyebrows to shoot up his forehead.

"Ah." The redhead nodded, "Well, Ms. Benoit's prop, I'm Professor Everett."

"Detective Lee Scanlon."

"A detective?" Professor Everett looked impressed, "I had no idea Hannah had such impressive relatives."

"Well, we're not relatives and being a detective isn't really all _that_ impressive…" Lee said, chuckling a little.

"Of course, it is."

"Not as impressive as being a teacher, Professor."

"Oh, please, call me Lena."

Hannah cleared her throat and it took Lee a few moments to realize she was frowning deeply.

"Oh." Professor Everett nodded, "Well, you may begin, Ms. Benoit."

"Come on," Hannah led Lee over to the corner and sat down at a table, "You sit here." She pointed.

Lee looked slightly offended at being told what to do, but sat down across from her.

Hannah didn't say anything as she pulled her things out of her bag, and Lee said, "Were you _jealous_?"

"What?" Hannah looked up, "I don't know what you're talking about, _Detective_."

"Well, no offence, Ms. Benoit, but you're kind of acting like you were jealous."

"Well, I wasn't." Hannah stated, "It's in your head."

"Uh-huh." Lee nodded and then, looking rather amused, said, "I'm your _prop_?"

"Oh, get your mind out of the gutter, Scanlon." Hannah said, rolling her blue eyes, "I'm gonna draw you."

"Huh?"

"Visual Arts." Hannah spoke slowly as though she was speaking to a child, "You do are that is visual, such as _drawing_ someone."

Lee frowned slightly, but nodded.

Hannah started sketching slowly, and Lee said, "So, you know about your aunt's gift?"

Hannah nodded, "Yeah. My mom had pretty much the same thing, which was probably why she turned out to be such a whack job." She lifted her eyes for only a moment before returning to the page.

Lee was about to ask her what she meant, when he decided they definitely weren't close enough for him to ask yet, so he said, "And you?"

"What about me?"

"Do you have any… _special_ talents?"

Hannah smiled faintly, "I have certain… abilities, yeah."

"Care to share?" Lee asked.

Hannah flipped to a page in her sketchbook and handed it to him.

Lee was a little stunned. It was a perfect drawing of a crime scene he'd been at the week before, and pictures hadn't been released to the press…

"I drew it from memory." Hannah said, as though reading his mind, watching his face, "I had a dream about it, and I drew it."

"Wow." Lee said before he could stop himself. "This is amazing."

Hannah shrugged, "It's nothing… oh, and sometimes I can channel spirits."

Lee nodded slowly and a few moments later, Hannah said, "Do you ever smile?"

"I smile."

"Yeah, when?" Hannah raised her eyebrows, "You don't look like the kind of person who smiles."

"Well, I do." Lee stated.

"I'm sure," Hannah rolled her eyes, before returning to her drawing. Lee found himself almost smiling a real smile. He wasn't quite sure why, but he had a pretty good idea that it had something to do with a certain Benoit.

* * *

**There you go, a nice long chapter to make up for the fact that I haven't updated in almost a month. Please read and review!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five.**

Lee had stayed with the DuBois family for a week with no progress in Hannah's case at all.

Lee knew there would be, at least, two weeks of a grace period, but he had the mistaken impression that the case would move forward without him there.

A week from the day Lee and Allison had told Hannah she was in danger, Lee was sitting in the semi-finished addition, watching TV when he heard someone behind him.

He turned and found Hannah standing behind him, before walking up and sitting beside him, "What are we watching?"

"_I_ am watching paid programming. _You_ should be sleeping."

"It's Friday night, I don't have classes tomorrow," Hannah pointed out.

"Hannah, you should be sleeping."

"I don't sleep anymore." Hannah said, "My head is just… too busy."

"Him?" Lee raised his eyebrows.

Hannah nodded, "Between him, and dead girls warning me, and more _him_… it's like a migraine 24 hours, 7 days a week."

Lee was quiet for a few minutes before saying, "If you take a Tylenol or something, would it help?"

Hannah shook her head, "You wanna know the truth about what helps with the dead and murderers taking over my brain?"

"Uh… sure." Lee sounded unsure.

"Alcohol and drugs," Hannah responded in a somewhat bitter voice, "If you want to mute the voices out, that is _the_ way to go, or so I'm told. And I figure I don't want to become an alcoholic, or a drug addict, so I'm just going to deal with having to see the inside of the killer's head."

Lee looked at her, "Have you… uh…"

"Seen him?" Hannah finished, and then shook her head, "No. I haven't. I would've told you if I had."

"I just had to… make sure." Lee said. "He's not going to get you, Hannah."

"I know." Hannah nodded, but her voice didn't sound as sure as it usually did.

"I'm serious, Hannah." Lee hesitated before putting a hand on her shoulder, "I won't let him."

Hannah smiled weakly before nodding again, slowly, and saying in a soft voice, "I know. I trust you."

Lee woke up with the October sunlight shining in his eyes the next morning, and the faint noises of the Dubois family moving around in the other part of the house.

He shifted slightly on the hide-a-bed, smiling slightly as he realized Hannah had spread a blanket over him.

"… Can we go wake him up _now_?" He heard Bridget whisper impatiently.

"_No_, Bridge," Hannah whispered back, "He works hard, he needs to sleep."

"But I wanna go shopping, and Mommy said we can't go without Detective Scanlon."

"Your mommy's right, honey, we can't go without him. We need to wait for him, but he needs to sleep." Lee felt a strange flush working up his neck when he realized Hannah was talking about him.

"But, Han_nah_." Bridget sighed.

"Go watch some cartoons with Marie, Bridget," Hannah advised in a soft voice, "I'll go have my shower and Detective Scanlon should be awake by then, and if he's not, _then_ we'll wake him up, deal?"

"Deal." He heard Bridget scampering down the hallway, and heard Hannah's soft footsteps entering the addition.

He groaned slightly as he sat up, "Hey."

Hannah looked up, smiling slightly, "Hey… oh, I didn't wake you up, did I?"

Lee shook his head, "Nah. I was awake… what time is it?"

"Quarter after nine." Hannah responded, picking up her clean clothes from where Allison had left them in a neat pile.

"I slept in." Lee sounded mystified.

"You needed it," Hannah said, smiling at him.

"And how long did you sleep, exactly, Ms. Benoit?"

Hannah suddenly looked away from him and mumbled something unintelligible, causing Lee to raise his eyebrows. "Hannah?"

"2 hours," Hannah said, "If you must know."

"Hannah, you can't keep doing that to yourself. You're gonna end up sick," Lee said seriously.

"It's not like I do it on purpose," Hannah stated, looking a little bit hurt at the way Lee had said his statement.

Lee suddenly felt bad, knowing she couldn't help it. And said, "I know, Hannah… I'm sorry."

Hannah shrugged, "No big deal… but I know _exactly_ how you can make it up to me," She smiled in a slightly devious way, "And you can't back out of it."

"I think I'm going to be a princess this year," Ariel announced as she walked alongside Hannah, in front of the cart Lee was pushing.

"But you were a princess _last_ year," Bridget pointed out.

"Your point?" Ariel raised one pale eyebrow.

"She _does_ have a point," Hannah said, sensing that if she wasn't careful her two cousins were soon going to be brawling. "The princess thing is kind of overdone."

"What do _you_ think I should be?" Ariel asked, obviously caring more about the opinion of her cousin than the opinion of her younger sister.

"Let's help Marie and Bridget, and then we'll focus on yours, all right?" Hannah asked.

Ariel nodded, "Sounds good."

"I don't know what I should be," Bridget said in a thoughtful voice, "Maybe a hockey player."

"A hockey player?" Both Lee and Hannah repeated, raising their eyebrows.

"Uh-huh," Bridget nodded.

"Why would you be a hockey player, Bridge?" Hannah asked, looking confused.

Bridget shrugged, "I don't know, just to try it,"

Hannah nodded slowly, "What about this, Bridge? It's a cute costume."

"What is it?" Bridget made a face.

"A cowgirl costume, silly," Hannah held it up, "You'd make a sweet cowgirl."

"I never thought about being a cowgirl." Bridget said. "That's a good idea, Hannah!"

"Thanks," Hannah smiled slightly, and then looked at Marie, "And what about you, munchkin??"

Marie looked adorably clueless, and shrugged her shoulders largely.

"Okay, kiddo, let's get to work." Hannah said, leading her three cousins through the many costumes, causing Lee to smile slightly.

A little while later, as Ariel took Bridget to find the nearest bathroom, and Marie went through costumes that were at her height, Hannah looked at Lee, "You could've stayed in the car, you know… or just dropped us off and gone somewhere else."

"I'm not supposed to leave you alone." Lee said.

"And maybe you're having a good time." Hannah's tired blue eyes sparkled slightly as she look at him.

"I am not," Lee muttered.

Hannah laughed, an unfamiliar sound that made Lee's heart give an uncomfortable jerk. "Don't lie, Lee Scanlon." She nudged him with her elbow, "You're enjoying yourself."

"I am _not_." Lee stated, but he had a hard time keeping the smile off his face.

Marie skipped over and grabbed Hannah's hand, "Where's your costume??"

"My costume?" Hannah raised her eyebrows, "You don't think I look scary enough without a costume??"

Marie shook her head, smiling.

"I don't know, Marie, don't you think I might be getting a little bit old for Halloween, and dressing up??"

Marie shook her head again, and Ariel, who had just walked up, with Bridget, piped up, "You should dress up, Hannah!!"

Hannah was about to protest, as Bridget also nodded her head, and Lee looked at Hannah, smirking slightly, "The jury has spoken."

Hannah narrowed her eyes, and said, "You're such an as—" She suddenly realized who she was standing with, and cut herself off, "And what do you suggest I dress up as?"

"Something original," Ariel said.

"Sorry, guys, I used up all my Hannah Benoit originality on you three,"

"Han_nah_."

Ariel stuck out her bottom lip, causing Bridget and Marie to follow.

"We can't just _leave_ Detective Scanlon all my himself," Hannah was quite obviously fishing for reasons not to pick out a costume.

"We'll look after him, won't we, Marie??" Bridget stated.

Marie nodded looking serious.

"See, Hannah? Now we can go choose _your_ costume." Ariel said, grabbing Hannah's hand.

Hannah looked helpless before being dragged by her 14-year-old cousin.

Bridget looked up at Lee with shining blue eyes, "Don't worry, Detective Scanlon, Marie and I will make sure you don't get hurt."

"Can I ask you something?" Ariel asked as she and Hannah looked for a costume, "It's kind of personal."

"You can always ask me questions," Hannah nodded.

"Do you like Detective Scanlon?"

"I kind of have to, don't I?" Hannah raised her eyebrows, "He's my body guard, right?"

"You don't have to, and that's not what I meant," Ariel said, smirking slightly, as though Hannah's response had been enough.

"Ariel, I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Hannah avoided her eye contact.

"Hannah, you said, I could always ask you questions."

"I didn't say I'd respond." Hannah said, "Lee—Detective Scanlon is supposed to protect me, and that is _all_."

"I wish _I_ had someone to protect me and look at me like _that_," Ariel said, smirking.

"Ariel." Hannah warned.

"What?" Ariel looked at her innocent, "I'm just making an observation."

"Well, don't, Ariel." Hannah said, "There is no observation to be made. Lee and I aren't even _friends_."

"Lee?" Ariel repeated, her blue eyes shining.

"Detective Scanlon. You know what I mean," Hannah waved her hand.

"But you said _Lee_," Ariel pointed out, "Only my mom and dad, and the few of his girlfriends we've met call him Lee. Sometimes even Mr. Devalos doesn't even call him Lee."

"Ariel…"

"Okay, Hannah, I'm shutting up now."

"How did shopping for costumes go?" Joe asked, as his three daughters, his niece, and Lee came in the door.

"It went great, Daddy," Ariel said, "I'm being a Goth for Halloween."

"A Goth," Joe looked surprised, "Now I wonder who inspired _that_ costume choice," He looked at Hannah who smiled guiltily.

"And what about you two munchkins?" Allison asked, laughing a little.

"I'm gonna be a cowgirl," Bridget announced, "And Marie's going to be a cow,"

"A cow?" Allison smiled.

"Moo!" Marie exclaimed.

"And did you have fun, Lee?" Allison chuckled at Lee's tired expression.

"I _hate_ shopping," He stated.

"Really?" Hannah raised her eyebrows, "I _love_ it, it's my _favorite_ thing to do." She nudged him with her hip, "And we aren't _that_ bad, are we??"

He just gave her a tired looking glare.

"Hannah got a costume too." Ariel announced.

"Oh? And what are you going to be?" Allison asked.

"It's a surprise!" Bridget exclaimed, "Only me, Marie, Hannah and Ariel know!"

"A secret?" Joe looked surprised.

"Yup." Marie nodded, and Hannah shrugged, smiling slightly.

"Let's go try on our costumes for Mommy and Daddy," Ariel said.

Bridget and Marie followed their older sister to the bedroom.

"How did they behave?" Allison asked.

"They were great," Hannah nodded, "And surprisingly, even Detective Scanlon behaved himself."

Lee mocked laughter, rolling his dark brown eyes as he sat down across from Joe and Allison.

Hannah smirked slightly before Marie's shrill voice came down the hallway, "Hannah!!"

"Coming!!" Hannah called, "Duty calls," She said, before smiling slightly and walking down the hallway.

Allison smiled wistfully, "Once upon a time, it was 'Mommy', not 'Hannah'." Her smile grew, "It's a nice change."

Joe chuckled as he stood and made his way to the kitchen, and Allison looked at Lee, "So, you and Hannah are getting along?"

"You could call it that, yeah." Lee nodded.

"If Ariel mentions anything about a nose piercing, or any other kind of piercing that isn't in her ears, I had _nothing_ to do with it. And if, by chance, she uses me as an example, it's all _lies_," Hannah stated, re-entering the living room.

Allison raised her eyebrows, and Lee said, "Allison, I think Hannah's a bad influence."

Hannah kicked him lightly with her foot as she sat beside her aunt, and Allison raised her eyebrows further, wondering if it was a so-called friendship that was making Lee smile the way he was.

**Sorry again for the wait, but my life has been pretty nuts lately. Please read and review :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six.**

_The scent of a cooking turkey wafted through the Dubois house as Allison watched Lee and Hannah playing soccer with Marie, Ariel and Bridget._

"_Smells good, Aunt Allison." Hannah said as she entered her house, her dark brown hair swaying in its long ponytail._

"_Thanks, sugar bear," Allison smiled, "You put your game on hold?"_

"_Nah. Lee's going to play on Marie's team, apparently she's better at soccer than I am." Hannah grinned, "Big surprise, I spent most of my Phys. Ed classes kissing boys behind the bleachers, not perfecting my sport expertise." _

_Allison laughed, and then remarked, "He's really good with the girls,"_

"_I know," Hannah nodded and looked pleased, "Aunt Allison… I want a baby."_

_Allison laughed again, and placed a hand on her niece's arm, "Han, one thing at a time, you don't want to rush the poor man."_

"_I know… we're not even like…__**official**__, but I've got a good feeling," Hannah smiled, "And he's so good with kids."_

_Allison pulled Hannah into a hug, "You're still young, sugar bear, don't worry."_

"_I'm not—" Hannah began, but she cut herself off as Lee entered the kitchen, looking tired. "Did my cousins wear you out?" She looked amused. _

"_I'm glad their torture amuses you." Lee chuckled, "But no, they didn't wear me out, I came to find __**you**__." _

"_Me? I'm right here," Hannah smiled, "Why are you looking for me?"_

"_A guy needs a reason to look for his number one girl?" Lee raised his eyebrows. _

_Hannah looked pleased, "Well, Lee Scanlon, you are not any normal guy." She leaned against him as Lee walked around the counter and wrapped his arms around her waist. _

"_The girls want to play with you." Lee informed her. _

"_But I can't play soccer. I don't even like sports."_

"_Apparently, I'm no comparison to the stunning Hannah Benoit, no matter how much you can't, or don't like, sports." Lee said, pressing his forehead against her hair. _

"_And this is news?" Hannah laughed._

_Allison smiled at her niece and her coworker, at how happy they were together._

"_Well, I better go see them, before they attack you." Hannah turned and reached up, kissing him lightly, before walking out of the house. _

_Allison smiled at Lee, "You and my baby niece are getting pretty serious, hm?"_

_Lee smiled and nodded "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about that."_

_Allison raised her eyebrows, as he pulled a small box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing a shiny, diamond ring. _

"_Wow__, Lee,"_

"_You think she's gonna like it?"_

--

Allison jerked awake, confused. Had she really just dreamt that?

* * *

Hannah and Lee were sitting in the addition together, watching an old episode of _Law & Order_.

"I'd marry Jack McCoy." Hannah said suddenly.

Lee looked at her, "He's old enough to be your father."

"Age is but a number," Hannah said, glancing at him.

"You'd marry someone old enough to be your father?" Lee raised his eyebrows.

"Hm… maybe not _that_ extreme." Hannah nodded. She and Lee glanced at each other, and they both grinned.

"You know, there's part of me that's kind of happy that we both went shopping today." Hannah said, after a few moments of silence.

Lee looked surprised.

"I got to talk to Ariel, without Marie and Bridget arguing to talk over her, and without people fighting over who got to hold my hands," Hannah said, "It was nice."

Lee shrugged, "It's not like I had much of a choice…"

"Yeah, but you did." Hannah said, "You could've had some other poor cop go shopping with me and my three over-excited cousins. I think you wanted to come shopping with us, Lee Scanlon."

"You're delusional." Lee said, "Lack of sleep can do that to a person."

Hannah made a face at him, "That might be true, but I think you actually had a good time today."

"Did not."

"Which one of us is delusional, again?" Hannah raised her eyebrows.

She and Lee just stared at each other for a few moments before Hannah sighed, and sunk back onto the couch, snuggling under her blanket.

"Go to sleep, Hannah," Lee said quietly.

"No. I'm not tired." Hannah was lying, and Lee could tell. In the faint light of the TV, she was paler than usual, and the faint light the dark circles under her eyes were more pronounced.

"All right…" Lee decided it was best not to argue with her, but only five minutes later, he looked over and found her sleeping.

He smiled slightly and continued watching _Law & Order_

* * *

_Hannah was sore all over. She was sitting in a place that smelled like a basement, but she didn't know where, or how she got there. _

_She groaned softly, before opening her eyes slowly, and blinking. She __**was**__ in a basement, but she could hardly see anything outside of herself in the dim yellow light shining overhead. _

_She tried to move, but couldn't, feeling a burning restraint on her arms and legs. She tried again and felt her skin tearing, and she realized she was bound to a chair with thick ropes._

_Hannah grunted softly as she struggled against the ropes._

"_Beautiful," A voice hissed from behind her._

_Hannah moved her neck, hearing her muscles pop as she did. _

"_You shouldn't struggle so much," The voice hissed, "You'll tire yourself out, and eliminate all my fun." A hand brushed her hair, which felt greasy and dirty, "So beautiful. Just like those girls who I chose before you, and am going to choose after you. So beautiful… just like my Claire." The hand was calloused and dirty and it massaged her neck. She tried to make a noise and she realized her mouth was duct taped shut, the voice leaned down close to her ear, and whispered, "And you're going to go just like my Claire… would you like a little taste?" He chuckled, "You're going to get one anyways."_

_Hannah felt a cold metal against her neck and then pressure, and pain, as the scalpel sliced into her skin._

--

Lee was startled when Hannah jolted awake with a loud gasp, and then started crying, soft, tearless sobs.

"Hannah? Hannah… are you okay?" Lee was concerned.

She covered her face with her hands before shaking her head.

"What happened?" Lee looked at her, worried.

Hannah just shook her head again, shaking from head to foot.

"Hannah," Lee touched her shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin, "Whoa, kid, I'm not gonna hurt you," He looked at her seriously, "Hannah, what happened? Did you have a dream?"

Hannah nodded slowly, peeking one eye out at him.

"Did he have you??" Lee asked cautiously.

Hannah nodded again, her bottom lip quivering.

"Hannah… he's not going to get you." Lee assured her, carefully putting his arm around her shoulders, "You know that. I won't let him get you, Hannah."

"You're just saying that," Hannah mumbled, a solitary tear rolling down her cheek.

"No, I'm not." Lee looked at her, "I promise I'm not just saying that, Hannah. And I promise I'm not going to let him get you."

"Don't make a promise you can't keep, Lee." Hannah said in a miserable voice. She'd calmed down considerably, though her breaths were still ragged, she wasn't shaking as much as she had been at first.

"Hannah. He isn't going to get you. I'm here, and he'll have to get through me first," He was surprised at how caring and understanding he sounded.

Hannah looked at him with cautious blue eyes, "Why are you so sure?"

"I don't have to be a psychic to know the guy would be nuts to try and get to you when you have me to protect you," Lee grinned at her, and was relieved when Hannah grinned weakly.

He cautiously pulled her closer to him, "You're safe, Hannah. Try to get some sleep."

* * *

**Sorry it's been so long AGAIN, you guys! I've been busy with exams, and family drama, but this past week was Spring Break, so I managed to write a fair bit for this story. Thank you so much for your reviews, please keep it up (**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven.**

That had been almost two weeks ago. Hannah had slept a grand total of 2 hours that night, and in the following two weeks had only gotten around 15 hours of sleep. It was now Halloween, and Hannah had somehow managed to escape taking the girls trick-or-treating.

"And tell me, how did you get out of this one?" Lee raised his eyebrows.

"I have no idea," Hannah attempted to stifle a yawn, as she pulled her long hair into a ponytail. "But remind me to thank my aunt later."

"Don't thank me yet," Allison said, entering the room, "You're stuck handing out the candy, instead of going out to your hip college parties."

Hannah rolled her eyes, "Like I could go to any of them anyways, I think that's probably against my rules,"

Allison looked at Hannah, who was now occupying herself with picking a hole in her jeans, and leaned towards Lee, "Could you try to cheer her up a little?"

"I'll try, Allison." Lee said quietly, "But I can't make any promises, I don't have the first clue how to make a twenty-one-year-old girl happy."

"I'm sure you'll be able to, Lee, don't worry," Allison smiled, as Marie came skipping into the room with face paint in her hands.

"Hannah…" Marie tugged on Hannah's t-shirt. "Moo!"

"Oh, right, come on, Marie, I almost forgot." Hannah led her younger cousin into the bathroom and lifted Marie onto the counter to paint her face with the white and black paint.

Ariel came into the room, holding two separate piles of clothes in her arms, "Where's Hannah?"

"Bathroom," Lee and Allison said together.

Ariel walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

About 20 minutes, Marie emerged, with her face painted like a cow, with Ariel behind her, looking more broody than usual with black lipstick, eye shadow and nail polish to match her black clothes.

Allison smiled, "Oh, babies, you look so good!" She pulled Marie into a hug, "Wait, where's Hannah?"

"Refusing to come out of the bathroom because we forced her into the costume she bought." Ariel said, smiling evilly.

"Ah," Allison nodded, "Well, I have to get some pictures of you three girls, but Lee, maybe you could try and get her to come out before they leave, so that she can get some pictures taken too,"

"Sure?" Lee wasn't sure if it was a question so he just agreed.

Allison left the room with Marie in her arms, and Ariel gave Lee a look.

"What?"

Ariel raised her eyebrows, "What?"

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Lee asked.

Ariel crossed her arms over her chest and smiled in a slightly devilish fashion, "You _know_ why I'm looking at you like this."

"Actually, Ariel, I don't."

Ariel scoffed, "Sure…"

"Ariel! Pictures!"

She smiled mockingly at him, "See you later."

Lee shook his head and walked towards the bathroom. He knocked on the bathroom door.

"Go away."

"Hannah,"

"I'm not coming out,"

"And why not?" Lee was interested to hear her reason why.

"Because I look like an idiot." Hannah responded.

"You honestly think I care about how you look, Hannah?"

Hannah was silent for a few moments and then she pulled open the bathroom door, looking none too happy about it. But when Lee actually looked at what she was wearing… She was wearing a teal, full-length dress, with puffed sleeves, and a bow above a split in the front of her dress, which was filled with peach material.

"What are you staring at?" Hannah raised her eyebrows.

"Huh?" Lee blinked a couple of times and tried to shake off the bizarre feeling he was having.

"Do I have something on my face, or what?"

"Uh… no." Lee shook his head.

'Well, then, wanna tell me what the hell is with the stare you're giving me?" Hannah asked, looking suspicious.

"I wasn't giving you a stare," Lee said hastily.

Hannah didn't look as though she believed him, and was about to say something else when Allison called down the hallway.

"Hannah, want to come get some pictures taken with your cousins?"

Hannah gave Lee one last suspicious look before turning on her heel and walking down the hall to the entryway, her princess dress swaying behind her.

Lee let out a slow breath, and shook his head. What was getting into him?

* * *

After Allison and Joe took the kids out to go trick-or-treating, about 20 or so kids came trick-or-treating, but then almost 20 minutes passed with no kids coming to the door. Hannah and Lee sat in the living room in an awkward silence, when Hannah said, "Let's watch a movie,"

"What about the trick-or-treaters?" Lee asked.

"I don't think anymore kids are coming," Hannah replied, "And it really isn't Halloween unless we watch a scary movie,"

Lee almost smiled, and then said, "What do you have in mind, Hannah?"

"Well, I'm deliberating between _The Grudge_ and _When A Stranger Calls_," Hannah replied, looking thoughtful. She held up the two DVD's, "Take your pick, Scanlon."

"Let's go with _The Grudge_," Lee replied, not thinking about which one was scarier, but choosing the one that didn't have to do with a psychotic killer.

"All right," Hannah smiled and put the DVD in the DVD player, grabbed the remote and sat beside Lee on the couch, still wearing her princess dress, "But if you get scared, I'm not holding your hand."

Lee glanced at her, and then rolled his eyes, "I think I'll be able to handle myself, Hannah."

"I don't know, man, some guys act all tough on the outside, but on the inside, they're just big softies who get as freaked during scary movies as the rest of us." Hannah said, grinning slightly.

"Yeah, I don't think you have to worry about that," Lee stated as the opening credits started rolling.

Hannah smiled at him before sinking back further onto the couch to watch the movie.

* * *

They were about halfway through the movie, when the doorbell rang. Lee looked at Hannah, "I thought you said nobody else was going to come trick-or-treating,"

"Don't be a smartass, Scanlon, nobody likes a smartass." Hannah informed him, standing up, "And I'll get the door, thanks for offering."

Lee paused the movie, even though he anticipated she'd be back in no time. When he didn't hear her talking to anyone, however, and she didn't come back right away, he got up and walked into the entryway to check on her.

"Hannah?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin, which should've been the first sign something was wrong. She turned around, and Lee noted that she was even more pale than normal, her eyes were as round as dinner plates and she was shaking from head to foot.

"Hannah, what's wrong?"

Hannah pointed to a piece of paper that had fluttered to the floor from her hands just moments ago. Lee walked over and as soon as he read what was on the paper, and closed and locked the front door and grabbed Hannah by the shoulders.

"Go into the living room, make sure all the windows and doors are closed, and then stay as FAR away from them as possible."

"Lee," Hannah's voice was quiet.

"Just DO it, Hannah," Lee snapped.

Hannah bit her lip, looking unsure, but did as she was told. Lee grabbed his cell phone and called the DA.

"Devalos."

"It's Scanlon. I'm with Alison's niece… the serial was just here."

"What do you mean, the serial was just there?"

"Just get over here, okay?' Lee stated.

"I'm on my way." Devalos hung up the phone, and Lee let out a deep sigh. He looked at the picture… it was one of the girls, after the serial had killed her, and written over the picture in messy red Sharpie, it read"

'**I DIDN'T FORGET, HANNAH BENOIT.**

**YOU'RE NEXT'**

* * *

**Sorry again for the long wait, guys. Things have been crazy around here. I'm going to try and update more frequently though, thank you for your reviews. Please read and review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight.**

When Allison and Joe brought the girls home, they found Devalos' car out front, beside a cop car.

"Mommy, why is there a police car here?" Ariel automatically looked worried.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Ariel," Allison honestly wasn't so sure on the inside, as she opened the house. "You take your sisters to their room and start getting ready for bed, okay?"

"But, Mommy," Ariel began to protest, but Joe intervened. "Listen to your mother, Ariel."

Ariel nodded, and herded Marie and Bridget into their bedroom.

Allison rushed into the living room and found Devalos, and Lee, talking together, looking grim.

"Lee, what's going on? Where is Hannah?" Allison asked, looking worried.

"Hannah's fine, Allison," Lee said, seriously, "But something's happened."

Allison raised her eyebrows. "What happened, Lee?"

Lee pointed to the kitchen counter, and Allison pulled over the picture, which was now covered in a plastic evidence bag. Once Allison absorbed what she was looking at, she stared at Lee, "_When_… _What_…"

"Someone rang the doorbell, and Hannah found it." Lee let out a slow sigh.

"Where's Hannah?" Allison asked.

Lee pointed to the living room, where Allison spotted her niece, curled up on the couch, in front of the TV, which was playing a rerun of _The Brady Bunch_.

Allison took a deep breath, and walked over to the couch, "Hannah?"

"Do you think that Marcia and Greg had a little something going on off screen?" Hannah asked, "Gisele always said that there was _intense_ sexual tension between them."

Allison sat beside Hannah, and Hannah continued, "Mind you, Gisele was on the wine, and any other alcohol she could find, most of the time when we watched _The Brady Bunch_."

"Sweetie, do you really think talking about Gisele is the best thing for you right now?" Allison asked, rubbing Hannah's back.

Hannah looked thoughtful, before shaking her head, "No, probably not."

"Are you okay, Hannah?"

"Not now," Hannah shook her head, "But I will be eventually." She paused before sighing, "I always am."

"Oh, Hannah," Allison pulled her into a hug, "Baby, please talk to me."

"There's nothing to say, Aunt Allison, a psychopath wants to kill me, and he was here tonight,"

"And you're telling me you don't have anything to say?" Allison raised her eyebrows.

Hannah shook her head.

"Hannah,"

"I don't want to talk about it," Hannah stated, "Please, Aunt Allison."

Allison stroked Hannah's dark hair, and sighed, "Okay, baby, go and try to get some sleep."

"Fat chance," Hannah muttered, but she kissed Allison's cheek and walked into the addition.

Lee came over a few moments later, "How is she doing?"

"She seems to be healthy and practically fine," Allison paused and then looked at Lee, "She's a mess."

"I can't blame her," Lee said, shaking his head, 'Where'd she go?"

"Addition." Allison responded.

Lee nodded and then said, "Well, I should probably go stay with her,"

Allison almost smiled, and then patted him on the arm, "Okay."

* * *

Lee walked into the addition, and found Hannah wearing an overlarge Aerosmith t-shirt, and a pair of Soffe shorts, sitting on the hide-a-bed silently, going through her sketchbook, with the TV on.

"Hey," He greeted.

"Hey," Hannah didn't even have to look up to know who it was.

"How are you doing?" Lee asked.

Hannah bit her lip, before responding, "Honestly, I've been better,"

"Yeah, I kind of figured," Lee nodded, sitting beside her, "Remember what I said a few weeks ago?"

"Mm-hmm," Hannah paused, "Weird thing about sleeping for like, two hours at a time, my memory of the past three weeks is like, insanely clear." She looked at him expectantly.

"None of it's changed," Lee said seriously, "He's still not going to get you."

"How can you say that, Lee?" Hannah's voice had the faintest trace of irritation, "How can you say that, when he was _here_, at our _house_, and neither of us even _realized_ it could _happen_?"

"Trust me, Hannah," Lee stated, "I won't let him get you. I won't let myself let you get hurt."

Hannah looked at him, and then sighed, "I think I might actually believe you."

Lee smiled slightly, "Good."

* * *

Later that week, while Hannah was sleeping soundly, Lee came upon Allison, who was sitting at the kitchen table.

"What's up with you?" He asked, as he sat across from her.

"Joe's grandmother up in Seattle is really sick," Allison sighed, "I'd really like to take the girls up to see her one last time, but with the whole Hannah thing… we can't take her, and we can't just leave her either."

"Allison, I'd stay with her." Lee said.

"Oh, Lee, but you've already done so much, I could never ask you to—"

"You don't have to, Allison, I'm offering." Lee stated, "I'll stay with Hannah. You and Joe take the girls to see their grandmother."

"Thanks, Lee," Allison smiled gratefully, and then said, "Is Hannah still asleep?"

Lee nodded, "She passed out on the hide-a-bed a couple of hours ago."

"Maybe she's finally going to get some sleep." Allison said, "If she doesn't get some sleep soon, she's going to get sick."

Lee nodded, "I wish we could help her, but I don't think there's much we can do."

Allison shook her head, "Are you guys getting any leads on who he is?"

Lee shook his head, "There was virtually nothing on the photo, and no DNA or prints on the envelope it came in."

"We _have_ to find that guy, Lee. Even if he doesn't get to Hannah, if she keeps up the two hours of sleep a day thing much longer, it's gonna kill her."

Lee nodded seriously, "Have you had any dreams?"

Allison shook her head, "Just the same one, over and over, about Hannah being kidnapped in various different ways, each just as painful as the last,"

"And no glimpses of him at all." Lee let out a frustrated sigh.

Allison shook her head, and was about to say, when she caught Lee trying to stifle a yawn.

"You, go to bed. You've been working too hard, go get some rest."

For once, Lee didn't argue. He got up and wandered over to the couch. Only a few moments later, soft snores started to fill the room.

Allison was only alone for a few moments, when Hannah came into the kitchen.

"Hi, baby," Allison greeted.

Hannah smiled sleepily, and then visibly shivered.

"Are you cold, sweetie?" Allison looked confused. It was probably 90 degrees inside the house, and Hannah was wearing a thick pair of sweatpants with a matching sweatshirt.

Hannah nodded and then opened her mouth, and her voice came out as a hiss, "Aren't you?"

"Hannah, are you sick?" Allison automatically started worrying.

Hannah shook her head, but refused to speak.

"Hannah," Allison warned. She stood up, walking around the table. She placed a hand on her niece's forehead and realized her skin was burning, "Oh, sweetie, you're sick,"

Hannah pouted, looking like a four-year-old whose mother had just said she couldn't get a My Little Pony dream castle.

"What hurts?" Allison asked.

Hannah hesitated, before sighing and putting a hand to her throat.

"Say 'ah'," Allison instructed.

Hannah looked unsure, before opening her mouth, and giving a feeble, "Ah."

"Your throat's all red, kiddo," Allison brushed Hannah's hair off of her burning forehead, "Go back to bed."

Hannah looked reluctant, but got up and walked back to her "bedroom" in the addition.

Allison picked up the phone, and dialed the number.

"Hi, Dr. McAllister? This is Allison DuBois, My niece is sick with some kind of bug. Do you think you could possibly make a house call?"

* * *

When Lee woke up, the voice of an unfamiliar man greeted him.

"… I'd say she's got the bug that's going around. I'll write her a prescription, but I'd say she needs three days just to get better, maybe more, and then a couple days of rest after. I'll write her a note for her teachers."

"Thank you, doctor," Allison sounded grateful.

"You're welcome, Mrs. DuBois." The male voice left the room, and the house, Lee assumed and he sat up.

"Hey," Allison greeted, 'Have a good sleep?"

"Yeah, actually, how long was I out?"

"A couple of hours," Allison replied.

Lee nodded, and then said, "Who was the guy?"

"Doctor McAlister," Allison responded.

"One of the girls sick?"

Allison nodded, "Hannah. Apparently she's got a severe case of strep throat. The doctor thinks she's out of school for a week, at least."

"That sucks." Lee said honestly.

Allison nodded, "I think I'm going to have to postpone our Seattle trip."

"Allison, I deal with low-life criminals every day, I can handle a sick girl." Lee said.

Allison looked unsure, "Are you sure, Lee? I can postpone the trip."

"Take the trip, Allison. I can handle Hannah."

* * *

The next day, Allison and Joe and the girls left at the break of dawn for Seattle.

"I'll call as soon as we get there," Allison assured Lee, "Make sure Hannah takes her medicine. Doctor McAllister's number is on the fridge."

"Okay," Lee nodded, "Relax, Allison, I have everything under control."

Allison smiled, "Thank you so much, Lee. And if anything happens with Hannah's case, I don't care what time it is, call me, okay?"

"Okay," Lee nodded, "Have a good time, Allison."

"I'll try," Allison smile weakly, and then went to the car.

Lee walked back into the house, and walked to the addition.

Hannah was watching the local news, in her pajamas. She was "sleeping" on the hide-a-bed, and Lee on the couch in the same room, until Hannah's bedroom was finished.

Hannah looked exhausted, but she was refusing to go to sleep.

"How are you feeling?" Lee asked, in a surprisingly sympathetic tone.

Hannah mocked gagging and sighed.

"That good, huh?" Lee shook his head, "Do you want anything?"

Hannah shook her head.

"You're not hungry or anything?" Lee asked.

"Stop worrying," Hannah rasped, "I'm fine,"

"Being sick with strep throat is _not_ fine." Lee said.

"Well, you better be—" Hannah had a coughing fit, mid-sentence. When she finally stopped, she continued, "Be careful. You're starting to sound like Aunt Allison."

Lee rolled his eyes. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

That night, Lee decided he was going to cook dinner for himself and for Hannah.

Hannah claimed she still wasn't hungry, but she didn't complain when he handed her a bowl of chicken noodle soup. She gave him a tired smile, and returned to watching…

"James Bond?" Lee raised his eyebrows, "I didn't know you like James Bond."

Hannah nodded, "I _love_ James Bond. Gisele always said I must've gotten that from my dad."

"Gisele?"

"My mom." Hannah explained in a hoarse voice.

"You call your mom by her first name?"

Hannah nodded.

"What about your dad?"

"What about him?"

"What'd you call him?" Lee asked, sitting beside her.

"I didn't." Hannah replied honestly, "I've never met my dad."

"Oh, wow." Lee hadn't been expecting this, "I'm sorry."

Hannah shrugged.

"So… was he like a bad guy, or…?" Lee asked awkwardly.

"I don't know." Hannah said, "And it wasn't like he was some hardened criminal, or some billionaire. It wasn't like my mom didn't know where he was… it was more like… she didn't know _who_ he was." Hannah looked at Lee, "If you get my meaning."

Lee, unfortunately, did get her meaning. He'd never felt so badly for her in the almost three months he'd known her.

"She's crazy, you know." Hannah said a few moments later.

Lee looked at her, confused.

"Gisele." Hannah confirmed, "Her "gift" made her crazy."

"I'm sorry, Hannah." Lee said quietly.

"It's not your fault." Hannah said, "Like Allison always tells me, it's nobody's fault but hers." She paused, "My mom was 17-years-old when she had me. She didn't give it up after I was born. Allison says it was because she's just the kind of person who was _made_ to have fun, and the whole being a parent thing was to heavy for her."

"What do you think?" Lee asked in a soft voice.

"I think it's because she didn't love me enough to change." Hannah said, sounding sad for the first time since Lee had met her.

"Hannah, I'm sure that's not it. I'm sure your mother loves you." Lee said seriously.

"You wouldn't say that if you knew her." Hannah sighed. Then she looked at him, "Your turn."

"My turn for what?" Lee raised his eyebrows.

"To talk about _you_." Hannah said, "I just told you _all_ about my mother and her _issues_, it's your turn to spill."

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"Your whole life story." Hannah croaked, grinning weakly.

"Hannah," Lee shook his head.

"What?" Hannah raised her eyebrows, "We've known each other for _months_, but I know next to nothing about you."

"Well, I don't know that much about you either." Lee pointed out. "Just that you take art courses, you have a stalker, you like James Bond, and, apparently, your mother's nuts."

"That's not fair, I asked first." Hannah frowned.

"I'm older." Lee pointed out.

"_Fine_." Hannah sighed, "What do you want to know?"

"Your life story."

Hannah rolled her eyes, "Seriously, Scanlon?"

Lee nodded.

"Okay, so," Hannah looked thoughtful, "I was born in New Jersey in the middle of a snow storm. I don't know _why_ my mom named me Hannah, but my middle name is from her favorite TV show. We moved around _all_ the time when I was younger, because my mom had seven zillion boyfriends, and she thought every single one of them was "the one". My favorite place to live was definitely Hawaii, we lived there when I was sixteen, and I wanted to take Jonathan Taylor Thomas to my high school prom." Hannah looked at him, "Had enough?"

Lee shook his head, smiling.

"What more is there?" Hannah raised her eyebrows.

"Favorite movie, favorite sport, favorite color…" Lee listed.

Hannah rolled her eyes but answered, "My favorite colors are purple and blue, my favorite movie is either _The Goonies_ or _Dirty Dancing_, I actually hate sports, but I watch hockey and figure skating. My favorite book is either _My Sister's Keeper _or _Carrie_. I like shows like CSI, and _Law and Order_, and reality TV _really_ pisses me off." Hannah finished, "Your turn."

"I was born in Boston." Lee began, "I moved here when I was 9. I was going to be a doctor, but I, uh, changed my mind when I was 18. My parents named me after my mother's father, and I didn't go to my high school prom."

"Why not?" Hannah asked.

"Not really my kind of thing." Lee replied.

Hannah nodded slowly as Lee continued, "My favorite movie is _The Godfather_, and my favorite show is probably _Law & Order_." He looked at her, "Happy now, Benoit?"

"For now." Hannah nodded, smiling faintly.

* * *

20 minutes later, Lee was going to tell Hannah he would take her nearly full bowl of soup back to the kitchen, when he realized Hannah had _finally_ fallen asleep.

Lee quietly stood up, and was about to leave for the kitchen when Hannah stirred in her sleep, "Lee?" She mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"Don't go." Hannah obviously didn't know what she was saying.

"I'm just going to the kitchen, Hannah." Lee said in an unnaturally gentle voice.

"You'll come back?" Hannah's eyelids were already drooping.

"Yeah, of course." Lee nodded.

Hannah's head had hit the pillow, and she was asleep before Lee had even left the room.

* * *

**A special thank you goes to _witchbaby300 _for ACTUALLY reviewing ( : I'm happy to announce I've finished writing _Be My Escape_, so there will be semi-regular updates, as long as I get some reviews. Thanks ! ( :**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine.**

For the next three mornings, Lee woke up to find Hannah _still_ sleeping, snuggled up beside him. On the third morning, her skin was still burning, he could feel it through his t-shirt, but she was at least wearing a somewhat healthy looking blush.

Lee maneuvered himself slowly so he could catch a glimpse at what the time was, without waking Hannah. 9:45. _That_ was impressive. Especially for Hannah, who hadn't slept well in months.

Lee suddenly realized _why_ he had woken up in the first place. The doorbell was ringing. He carefully removed himself from Hannah, making sure not to wake her up, and then made his way to the front door.

He pulled the door open and found Hannah's attractive, red-haired teacher.

"Detective," A smirk appeared on her face, "What a surprise running into you here."

"Professor Everett." Lee nodded at her, also smiling, "How can I help you?"

"Well, you can start by calling me Lena. And also, I noticed that Hannah wasn't in class for the past few days," She said, pushing her red hair over her shoulder, "I wanted to come over and see if she was okay."

"Well, that was very thoughtful of you." Lee remarked, "But Hannah's home sick with strep throat, and she's sleeping right now."

"Oh, that's too bad." Lee had a pretty good feeling that Hannah's professor had already known that Hannah was sick. "I brought some work by for her, and a drawing I marked for her." She held out a folder, which Lee took from her and placed on the table by the door.

They stood in the doorway talking for a few moments, before Lena said, "Would you like to go get some coffee sometime?"

Lee, for the first time in his life, hesitated. A beautiful woman was asking him to go out with her, and he was thinking about it. He wondered what was wrong with him, this would be the first date he'd gone on it almost three months. Why was he _considering_ this?

"Well, uh," He cleared his throat, "Right now, I'm kind of busy with work and stuff… but some other time, maybe."

Lena nodded, "Sounds good." She pulled a piece of paper out of her purse, "Give me a call sometime."

Lee just nodded mutely as Lena walked back to her car, and then he closed the door. He walked into the kitchen and turned on the pot of coffee before he walked back to the room where he and Hannah had been staying.

Hannah was sitting up, looking half-asleep.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" Lee asked, looking at her.

Hannah yawned before saying, "Combination of things."

"You gonna elaborate?"

"Dream." Hannah murmured, "And I heard you talking to somebody."

"You had a dream?"

Hannah nodded, "There's somebody named Claire," She said, looking thoughtful, "He kept calling me Claire."

"Claire?" Lee raised his eyebrows, and picked up his cell phone.

"_Devalos_."

"Hey, Manny, it's Lee. I was wondering if you could do a search on girls named 'Claire' who were killed in a similar fashion to the girls the serial's been going after."

"_Sure, I guess I could call that in. Did Allison have a dream?_"

"No, Hannah did."

"_Ah. Allison mentioned she was sick. How is she doing?_"

"Better, I think."

"_That's good. Well, I'll call you if we get anything on your search. The name was Claire?_"

"Yes. And thanks, Manny."

"_No problem, Lee_."

Lee closed his phone and looked at Hannah, "Done."

Hannah smiled slightly, "Do you think that it'll help you find the guy?" She asked.

Lee nodded, "Yeah, I think so."

There were a few moments silence, when Hannah said, "So who was at the door?"

"What?"

"You were talking to somebody at the door? Who was it?" Hannah was giving Lee a strange look.

"Oh, uh, it was, uh…" Lee didn't know why he was being so nervous about telling Hannah it was her teacher, "Your teacher. Professor Everett."

Hannah's eyebrows shot up her forehead. "What did she want?"

"To drop off some of your work, and a drawing she marked for you."

Hannah looked at him, her blue eyes full of suspicion, "Why do I feel like there's something else to it that you're not telling me?"

Lee hesitated before saying, "Because there is."

"Well, you can tell me." Hannah said, "We're friends, right? Friends tell friends stuff."

"She, uh…" Lee decided he should just come out with it, "She asked me out."

Hannah suddenly looked very serious, "On a date?"

Lee nodded.

"_Oh_." Hannah nodded, and then said, "So are you gonna go?"

"I don't know."

"Well, it's not neurosurgery." Hannah said, "My professor asked you on a date. It's either a yes or a no."

"It's not that easy." Lee muttered.

"What's so difficult about it?" Hannah asked, looking at him expectantly, while still extremely serious.

Lee didn't respond, because he was wondering the same thing himself. What _was_ so difficult about it? A beautiful woman asked him out… and he had said "maybe".

Why had he said maybe? It wasn't like there was another option in his life… was there?

He looked at Hannah and shook his head, "I just don't know."

* * *

By two days later, Hannah was feeling much better. Her fever had gone down considerably, and her voice was almost back to normal.

"When does Aunt Allison get home?" Hannah asked, from where she was working on her schoolwork.

"Day after tomorrow." Lee replied, "Apparently Ariel and the girls miss you like crazy." He glanced up at her, and grinned slightly at her appearance.

She was sitting at the kitchen table, wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a bright blue, long-sleeved t-shirt, her long hair was in a messy bun at the top of her head and she was wearing her glasses, for the first time since Lee had met her.

"Of course they do." A small smile appeared on Hannah's face.

"So, what are you working on?"

"A paper on Annie Lebovitz," Hannah replied. When she caught Lee's mystified look, she explained, "She's a photographer, takes really racy, somewhat questionable pictures."

When Lee's face didn't show any sign of understanding, Hannah rolled her perfect blue eyes and said, "Miley Cyrus, _Vanity Fair_."

"Ah." Lee nodded, suddenly knowing who Hannah was talking about, "Well. Why are you writing about her?"

"I'm defending her artistic license." Hannah replied, "Saying that she didn't _try_ to make Miley look like a whore. It's art, and how people perceived it was a little bit extreme."

"And you agree with that?" Lee looked at her with dark inquisitive eyes.

"Yes." Hannah nodded, "I really think they meant it to be artistic, and not offensive. And… she's a sixteen-year-old girl, for crying out loud. I don't understand why it comes as such a shock to people when teen queens grow up. And it isn't like she pulled a Kate Moss and got caught doing cocaine. They're just _pictures_."

Lee chuckled softly, slightly amused by Hannah tangent, but at the same time, he was impressed by how well she backed up her argument.

"What?" Hannah looked at him, catching him as he stared at her.

"What?" Lee returned her question with a question.

"Why are you _staring _ at me, Scanlon?" Hannah narrowed her eyes, and tapped her nails on the table impatiently.

"I'm not." Lee said hastily.

"You _are_." Hannah said this in a tone that made Lee think of a child arguing.

"I'm _not_, _you_ are imagining things, Benoit." Lee stated, standing up, and staring out the patio door, as he realized that he _had_ been staring at Hannah, and that this hadn't been the first time.

* * *

**So, I'll be honest, I hated writing this chapter. But things get more exciting in the next few, promise. (: Thanks again to _witchbaby300_! Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten.**

Two days later, Allison and Joe returned home with Ariel, Bridget and Marie.

Hannah was asleep, so Allison had a chance to chat with Lee before her niece was awake.

"How are you?" Allison asked.

"I'm okay," Lee nodded. In all honesty, he was confused, realizing that he had been staring at Hannah had caused him to question everything in the past two days.

"And how is Hannah?" Allison looked a little bit worried, but at the same time, hopeful.

"She's good, actually," Lee almost smiled, "She's slept for over five hours every night you've been gone, she's been eating, her fever's gone… she had a dream about… well, about him. Said he kept calling her _Claire_."

"Claire." Allison repeated. "Did Devalos have anything for you?"

"I called him and told him about it, he hasn't found anything on anybody named Claire yet, but he's still looking," Lee said, sighing.

"Lee," Allison suddenly had an urge to tell him about the dream she'd had about him and Hannah, but then thought better of it, "Never mind."

* * *

Hannah sat up, rubbing her eyes. She'd had yet another dream, and she was starting to understand _why_ her mother drank as much as she did, because Hannah was finally starting to comprehend exactly how annoying (and exhausting) having these dreams over and over were.

"Oh, hi, Sugar Bear, I didn't think you were awake," Allison said coming over to the hide-a-bed,

"I just woke up." Hannah mumbled drowsily, "When did you get home?"

"About an hour ago." Allison replied, "How are you feeling?"

"Much better," Hannah smiled faintly.

"Did Lee take care of you?" Allison asked, searching for a reaction on her niece's face.

Hannah nodded, "Yeah, he did."

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Baby Girl," Allison touched her niece's dark brown hair. "You had me worried about you for a little while there."

"Don't worry about me, Aunt Allison, I'm a trooper," Hannah joked weakly, grinning.

"I know you are," Allison smiled, and pressed a kiss to Hannah's forehead, "Lee said you had a dream?"

Hannah nodded, "He keeps calling me Claire."

Allison nodded, "Well, I'm sure Devalos will be able to find something to point us towards him. We're going to get him, Hannah."

Hannah nodded, "Yeah. I believe you, Aunt Allison."

"Good," Allison smiled, and then said, "Ariel and the girls will be in soon to see you. Can you handle it?"

"I can always handle my three favorite cousins." Hannah said, smiling faintly.

Allison smiled again, and said, "You're a good girl, Hannah." Before leaving the addition, and making her way to the kitchen.

* * *

Lee was sitting in the addition alone, flipping through case files of every woman and child ever murdered with the name Claire, and it was starting to give him a migraine.

"Hey." Suddenly Hannah was in front of him. She looked healthier than she had in weeks, with a healthy flush to her porcelain skin, an almost smile on her face.

"Hey. What's up?"

"I, um," She hesitated, "I have something for you."

Lee looked at her, confused. "Okay?"

Hannah cleared her throat before passing him a folder, "This is for you." She said this as though it needed to be clarified.

Lee looked down and saw that it had her name printed clearly on the front, he flipped it open and found the drawing that Hannah had done of him the first day he had been assigned to protect her.

It was perfect. It looked as though she had taken a black and white photograph of him and put it on a big piece of paper.

"Wow, Hannah…" Lee was speechless.

"Professor Everett gave it to me in that big pile of stuff she brought over the other day," Hannah said in a slightly shy tone, which surprised him, "I thought you might want to have it, or at least look at it." She paused before looking at him, biting her lip, "Do you like it?"

"Like it?" Lee repeated, "Hannah, I love it. Thank you." This was the most honest he'd been with her, without being sarcastic or moody in, well, ever.

Hannah actually, genuinely smiled, "You're welcome." She paused again, "I'm glad you like it." She was on her way out of the room, before she stopped and turned, "Lee?"

"Yeah?"

She looked thoughtful, before saying, "Thank you."

"For what, Hannah?" Lee was confused once more.

"Um, you know," Hannah shrugged, "Everything, I guess. I mean, like, protecting me, and looking after me when I was sick…" She looked at him, "Just… thanks."

"You're welcome." Lee said.

Hannah smiled faintly, "You get the hide-a-bed to yourself tonight," She informed him, "I'm going to spend the night in Ariel's room."

Lee wasn't sure how he felt about this. He and Hannah had been sharing the hide-a-bed for the past week almost… it would be strange to not have her right beside him, but he smiled, "I'll see you in the morning, Hannah."

"Good night," She said in a soft voice, before turning and walking down the hallway, her long ponytail swaying behind her.

* * *

Everyone was up early the next morning to get the girls ready for school. Hannah was going back to class for the first time also, so the entire family, and Lee were rushing to make sure they had everything.

Things seemed to be going without a hitch until Ariel raced out of her bedroom and towards Lee, "There's something you gotta see."

"Can't it wait, Ariel? I kind of have to take Hannah to her class." Lee said.

"_No_." Ariel said this word with such force that Lee looked at her quizzically, "This has to do with Hannah. You _have_ to come with me."

"Okay," Lee nodded, and followed Ariel into her bedroom.

Hannah was sitting at the computer desk that had been set up in Ariel's room just recently, her head in her hands.

"Hannah?" Lee's voice was full of concern.

Hannah's head whipped around, and she looked at him with tear-filled blue eyes, "Lee." Her voice was breaking, and Lee realized that she was shaking.

"What happened?" Lee asked.

Hannah pushed her chair away from the computer desk, and pointed to the open window on the monitor. "My friend from Jersey sent me the link, says she just happened upon it."

Lee walked over to the desk, and actually felt his heart stop for a moment. It was a website dedicated to Hannah. There were several dozen photos of her, and, Lee realized with horror, some of them were from the day before.

"Hannah," Lee's voice was surprisingly gentle, "You aren't leaving this house today."

Hannah didn't argue for once. She nodded and sat on Ariel's bed, next to her younger cousin, as Lee pulled out his cell phone and called Devalos.

* * *

"How could this happen?" Allison continued to repeat this until Lee was certain that she had made a recording of it, it had been said so many times, "He's been… he's been _following_ her, _stalking_ her."

Lee had those lines running in his head, over and over, not just because of Allison, but because he was blaming himself. How could he have let this happen? How could he not have noticed that there was someone _following_ he and Hannah?

Lee excused himself from the table, and made his way to what was supposed to be Hannah's bedroom. It remained unfinished, but Joe swore he'd have it done before Christmas.

Hannah was pressed up against a wall, her legs hugged against her chest, her blue eyes were staring at the ceiling.

Lee didn't say anything as he sat next to her. "I'm sorry." He stated.

"Shut up," Hannah looked at him, "Lee, this is _so_ not your fault. You can't help the fact that he's a psycho who's obsessed with me, that would be the fault of his genetic make-up, wouldn't it? So, do us all a favor, and shut up, and stop blaming yourself."

Lee almost smiled at Hannah's bluntness, and he said, "Why should I believe you?"

"Dear God, are you serious?" Hannah rolled her eyes, "Lee Scanlon, you're an _idiot_, but I still manage to believe _you_ every time you _swear_ to me that you're gonna protect me, that you're gonna get this guy." She looked at him, "So, try not to be an idiot, for _once_, and believe me, okay?"

Lee had to smile at this, "Okay, Hannah."

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven.**

Some things, Lee thought, could not even be stopped by psychotic killers stalking pretty 22-year-olds. Like, for example, Allison Dubois' elaborate Thanksgiving plans.

"Lee, I insist, you _have_ to stay for dinner," Allison said, "I won't take no for an answer. It's the _least_ I can do to thank you for keeping Hannah safe."

"Allison," Lee wanted to fight her, but he caught the glare Allison was giving him for even thinking of arguing, and he saw Hannah watching them with an amused expression from where she was standing by the counter.

"_Fine_." Lee sighed.

"Good boy," Allison patted Lee's shoulder, and Lee couldn't help himself, he glanced over at Hannah, who shot him a smile.

* * *

"You're kidding me, right?" Hannah was looking at Lee with such a look of disbelief, he almost laughed.

"No, Hannah, I'm not."

"There is _no way_ that Superman is better than Batman, Lee." Hannah said this with such seriousness, it actually made Lee laugh.

"Um, actually, Hannah, there is." Lee mocked her serious tone. "Superman is the best superhero around."

"_Not_." Hannah shook her head, her blue eyes wide, "Superman is like the _lamest_ superhero ever. He wears his underwear outside his uniform, do you have any idea how uncool that is?"

"Is that the best you can come up with?" Lee raised his eyebrows.

"Nope, He wears _glasses_ as a disguise, lame disguise, by the way. He's a total nerd, and he chases after Lois Lane, who is actually in love with his alter ego. And his name is _Clark Kent_." Hannah said this last point as though it was the winning argument, and then added, as an after-thought, "Who _does_ that?"

Lee scoffed, and said, "So what makes Batman so great?"

"He's a babe," Hannah said simply, "He's way built, he drives the _best_ cars, and has more money than Paris Hilton has boyfriends."

"That's not a winning argument," Lee pointed out, "That's just the reasons why you're in love with him."

"Well," Hannah looked slightly guilty, "Yes. But really, if you want me to give you all the reasons why Batman is a better superhero than Superman, I could."

"You'd lose."

"Nuh-uh." Hannah shook her head.

"Uh-huh," Lee was mocking her again.

They continued on like this for a few moments, when Bridget said, "Are you guys fighting?"

Hannah said yes, Lee said no, and Bridget said, "Oh, okay. So… are you or aren't you?"

Hannah and Lee glared at each other, and Hannah said, "We're not fighting anymore, sweetie, Because I won."

"No, you didn't." Lee informed her.

"I _so_ did, Scanlon. Just admit it."

"Benoit, you lost."

Allison walked in and watched the two with amusement, when Joe called Hannah to come down to the addition.

"Coming, Uncle Joe!" She looked at Lee, "I, the winner, have to go."

Lee rolled his eyes, and Bridget said, "Detective Scanlon… do you like Hannah?"

"Sure, I like Hannah, Bridget. We're friends."

"That isn't what I meant," Bridget said, "I mean like… like-like her."

Lee was quiet, "Um…"

"I mean, Mommy says that when a boy and a girl fight, it's because they like each other." Bridget said.

Lee looked helplessly at Allison, who smiled and looked back at him expectantly.

"Well, um, Bridget, I, uh." Lee was stumbling over his words.

"I knew it." Bridget nodded. "Don't worry, Detective Scanlon, I can keep it a secret."

Bridget skipped off to answer the door when the doorbell rang, and Allison looked at him, "Is there something we have to talk about, Lee?"

"What? No." Lee looked at her with wide brown eyes, "No."

"Uh-huh," Allison didn't look quite like she believed him, but her attention was forced elsewhere when a woman with long black hair, who could've passed as Hannah's older sister entered.

Allison and the women just stared at each other for a few awkward moments, when Lee heard Hannah walking down the hallway, "Okay, so, time to choose a color October Dusk or Green—" Hannah stopped herself as she spotted the woman. "Oh, God."

"Hey, little dreamer," The woman greeted smiling weakly at her.

Hannah just stared at the woman with wide blue eyes, and the woman looked at Lee, "You must be Hannah's boyfriend—"

"What are you doing here?" Hannah finally found her voice, cutting the woman off, and distracting Lee from almost blushing.

"Sweetie, I'm here to see you."

"Yeah," Hannah rolled her eyes, "_Sure_."

"Hannah," Allison said softly, touching her niece's arm.

"Hannah, I really am here to see you," The woman said with sincerity. Lee couldn't tell if the sincerity was forced or not.

Hannah refused to look at her, and Allison said, "So, um, Lee, this is… Gisele, Hannah's mother. Gisele, this is Detective Lee Scanlon, a, um, family friend."

Gisele smiled at him, and Lee glanced at Hannah, who was shaking her head disbelievingly.

Gisele broke the silence, and said, "So, baby, how have you been?"

"Fine," Hannah muttered, not looking at her.

"Hannah," Allison nudged her.

Hannah looked at Gisele and said in a somewhat mocking voice, "How have you been, _Mother_?"

"I've been good," Gisele nodded, "Clean, too."

Allison bit her lip, and Hannah said, "Again, huh?"

"Hannah," Gisele said, "It's for good this time."

"Sure," Hannah nodded, not sounding as though she believed her, "Which boyfriend convinced you to "stop" this time?"

"Hannah," Gisele said her name again, "You're not being fair."

"Good." Hannah said in a venomous tone, "It's about time, because you know what? When was the last time you were _ever_ fair to me?" And with that, she turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

Lee excused himself from Allison and Gisele, and walked after her, thinking that the holiday had just gotten a lot more interesting.

* * *

Lee found Hannah sitting on her bed in Ariel's room, listening to her iPod, He sat on the end of her bed, and said, "Hey."

Hannah looked up, "Hey." She pulled out her headphones, "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Lee looked at her, confused.

"_Her_." Hannah said, looking grim.

"Your mom?"

Hannah nodded, "I don't know why she's here. But she's going to make a mess of everything," Hannah shook her head, "I'm just going to apologize in advance."

"Hannah, you don't know for sure that she's going to mess everything up," Lee said fairly.

"Oh, except I do." Hannah said, "She _always_ does this, swears to God that she's clean, promises things will be different, and then falls off the wagon and crushes what little hope everyone has left for her." She groaned and flopped back onto her bed, "This is just what I need right now."

Lee hesitated, before saying, "Are you okay, Hannah?"

Hannah blinked a few times before saying, "No. Not really." She sighed, her chest rising and falling as she did.

"I'm sorry, Hannah," Lee didn't know what else to say.

Hannah shrugged, "It's not your fault. It's nobody's fault except for her own." She paused for a few moments and then said, "I've gotta get out of this house."

"What do you want to do?" Lee asked her.

"Anything." Hannah propped herself up on her elbows, "If I don't get out of here… it's not going to be pretty, Scanlon."

Lee shook his head at her, smiling faintly, "Well, let's see if Allison needs anything, and maybe that can be our excuse to escape for a bit."

Hannah smiled at him, and said, "Sounds good." She pushed herself into a sitting position, and she suddenly said, "Do you have anything on that Claire girl?"

Lee shook his head, "There are so many girls named Claire, Hannah… it's difficult to narrow it down to just one."

Hannah glanced at him as she stood up, "Do you think you'll be able to find the Claire girl that he's talking about?" She wanted him to be honest, Lee could tell from the look on her face.

"I don't know," Lee sighed, "We're going to try our hardest to find her, though."

Hannah nodded slowly, looking as though she wasn't sure she believed him or not.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

* * *

Allison didn't have much of a choice but to invite Gisele for Thanksgiving dinner. Her feelings towards her cousin were not entirely friendly at the moment, and she knew that by inviting her, she was putting a lot of stress on Hannah, stress that really wasn't necessary, when her niece had a killer stalking her.

"What are you doing here, Gisele?" Allison asked, after Lee had left for Hannah's bedroom.

"I actually _am_ here to see Hannah," Gisele said, "I know I screwed up before, Al, but… I've been doing a lot of thinking since I stopped drinking. I don't want my daughter to hate me."

Allison just looked at Gisele silently, before saying, "Gisele… this wasn't fair to Hannah."

Gisele looked at Allison with her almond shaped green eyes, "How is this not fair to her?"

Allison looked at her cousin incredulously, "Gisele, you spent all of Hannah's childhood moving her from state to state for _men_, uprooting her life every time you did. Not to mention the alcohol and drugs," Allison took a deep breath, "You ruined her childhood, by being _selfish_, she has every reason in the world to hate you, and you coming up here, and surprising her like this, when she has _so_ much else going on in her life… it's _completely_ unfair to her."

Gisele was about to react when Hannah and Lee came from Ariel's bedroom, and Lee said, "Allison, we're going out for awhile, anything you need?"

Allison gave Hannah a searching look, her niece shrugged, while she was looking at Lee. More like staring, doing anything to not look at her mother.

"Uh, no, Lee, I don't think so." Allison shook her head, "Don't be out too long, okay? Dinner's going to be a little bit late tonight, but still, don't be out too late. And Hannah, if you'd like to help get ready for the big dinner tomorrow, I'd really appreciate it."

Hannah stole a glance at her aunt, nodded, and then began looking at her shoes.

Allison forced a smile, and Lee said, "Okay, we'll see you later," They made their way out of the house, and left the two cousins staring at each other.

"He's a little bit old for Hannah, isn't he?" Gisele remarked dryly.

Allison scoffed in spite of herself, "You're suddenly one to be judging people because of _age difference_, are you?"

Gisele suddenly looked slightly embarrassed, and Allison said, "They aren't dating."

Gisele looked as though she didn't believe Allison, "Are you lying, Al?"

"No, _Gigi_." Allison used Gisele's nickname with disdain, "They aren't together."

"Then _what_ is a guy who must be almost thirty, if not older, doing hanging around Hannah?" Gisele asked, raising her eyebrows.

Allison didn't much feel like telling Gisele about the guy who was stalking Hannah, so she said, "Lee works with me. He and Hannah are friends."

"That's not all he's interested in," Gisele informed her.

Allison looked at Gisele questioningly, and Gisele said, "Can't you tell from the look on his face? He loves her."

Allison's expression changed, from questioning, to disbelieving. There was no _way_ Lee Scanlon loved her niece. _Right_?

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Thirteen.**

The next morning, it took Hannah a few moments to realize where she was. First of all, she was wearing clothes that she _knew_ were not hers, second, she was sleeping in an unfamiliar bed, and third of all, she was tangled up under several thick blankets with none other than Detective Lee Scanlon.

After a few moments of blinking blearily, Hannah recalled vaguely that Lee had brought her to his apartment after they had gone to the bar. A few moments after that, Hannah's headache hit her like a two-by-four.

"Ouch." She murmured, flopping back on the pillow.

Lee stirred in his sleep, blinked his dark brown eyes, and looked at the girl laying next to him, "Hangover hit you, Benoit?"

"Mm." Hannah didn't even have the energy to respond.

"I _told_ you so," Lee said, shaking his head. "Here, stay here, and I'll go and get you a Tylenol, okay?"

"Uh-huh," Hannah covered her eyes with her hands, as the sunlight was starting to make the back of her eyes ache.

Lee made his way out to the kitchen and found a Tylenol for Hannah, and grabbed her a large class of cold water. When he re-entered his bedroom, he found Hannah burying her face in the pillows.

"Hey," He spoke in a quiet voice, which surprised him. If it had been anyone else, he would've spoken loudly on purpose. "Here you go,"

Hannah cracked one blue eye at him, and said, "Okay, next time we go to a bar… tell me not to drink. Ever. Okay?"

Lee grinned at the prospect of going to a bar with Hannah again, "Okay."

* * *

Thanksgiving dinner was an awkward situation.

Allison was seated at one end of the table and Joe was seated at the other, with Ariel, Hannah, and Lee, on one side of the table, and Bridget, Gisele, and Marie on the other.

Hannah and Gisele were sitting across from each other, and Lee had a feeling that Hannah was considering all the way to accidentally kill herself with a butter knife.

"Hey," Lee said softly in the middle of the meal, "Are you okay?" Hannah had been strangely silent.

Hannah looked at him and sighed quietly, "If you have to ask…" But she forced a smile, and said, "I think I can make it through _one_ dinner."

"Well, if you can't, just think of all the things that are _worse_ than this dinner." Lee advised her.

"Like what?" Hannah wrinkled her nose.

"Puppies dying, people getting kidnapped, plane crashes, David Caruso's acting," Lee glanced at her from the corner of his eye, and was pleased to see her laughing.

She still looked _so_ tired, even though she had slept soundly the night before, and for almost an entire week, three weeks before, but her smile, Lee noted happily, was completely genuine.

Lee glanced across the table, and caught the questioning look that Gisele was giving him. He quickly looked away, and focused back on cheering Hannah up.

* * *

After dinner, Lee somehow ended up alone in the kitchen with Gisele. They were both silent at first, and then Gisele broke the ice, by saying, "So, you seem to be very close with my daughter."

Lee knew that Allison hadn't told Gisele about his being around or with Hannah 24/7 had to do with the fact that there was a psycho chasing her, so he just nodded in response.

"Look, Lee, you seem like a nice guy, so I'll just be straightforward with you," Gisele tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. "I know."

"Know what?" Lee looked at Gisele, confused.

"How you feel about Hannah," Gisele replied, blinking her green eyes, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How I…" Lee repeated, "What do you mean, Gisele?"

Gisele smiled faintly, "So this is how it's going to be, huh?" She shook her head, "Okay. I'm not blind, Lee, I can see it." She lowered her voice slightly, "I know you're in love with her."

Lee gaped at Gisele, unable to think of something to say in return.

"I think it'll be good for her," Gisele said, "She's not had a very good experience with men in general. Something she picked up from her mother," Gisele sounded slightly sorry about this, "I think you'd be good for her."

"Gisele, listen, you've got it all wrong," He began.

Gisele raised her eyebrows, "Do I?"

Lee nodded.

Gisele said, "Well, you might not realize it yet, but you're in love with Hannah."

"Sure," Lee said sarcastically. "I think you're just imagining things."

Gisele smirked faintly, and patted Lee on the arm, "I know I didn't _imagine_ the way you look at her,"

And with that, Gisele left the kitchen, and left Lee to ponder over what she had just said.

* * *

Gisele left the day after Thanksgiving dinner, and the next few weeks passed without too much drama. Though, over the passing days, Lee found himself thinking very seriously about what Gisele had said to him. He had tried his hardest to figure out _why_ he'd been thinking so hard on it, but he just couldn't figure it out.

One day in early December, Hannah came into the addition and dropped two separate outfits on the bed. "Pick one."

Lee glanced at what she had put on the bed and then looked at her, "What for?"

"Ariel's birthday party tonight," Hannah gave him a strange look, "You forgot didn't you?"

"No, no, I didn't forget," Lee shook his head, "It's just… that's tonight?"

Hannah nodded, still looking at him strangely, "Are you okay? You haven't been acting like yourself lately."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lee nodded. "So, can I ask why both the outfits look as though they just stepped out of a trip to the '80's?"

"You _so_ forgot," Hannah said in an accusing voice, and then said, "Ariel's birthday is a retro party."

"Ah, right." Lee nodded, and then pointed to one of the two outfits. "That one."

"Thanks," Hannah smiled, she was on her way to her new, almost finished, bedroom, when she turned and said, "What are you dressing up as?"

"I don't dress up, Benoit. I'm a little bit old for that, don't you think?"

Hannah shook her head, smiling slightly, "Nope."

"I am _not_ dressing up." Lee informed her.

Hannah stuck out her bottom lip, "Come on, Scanlon, if you don't dress up, you'll stick out like a sore thumb." She blinked her large eyes and said, "Come _on_, it'll be fun."

"Forget about it." Lee shook his head.

"How _rude_." Hannah remarked, frowning, before turning on her heel and walking into her bedroom, leaving Lee to chuckle at her.

* * *

Lee had partially fallen victim to Hannah's guilt trip. He had forced himself to wear a pastel shirt, which he figured, could pass as retro.

He was standing with Allison and Joe, in the Dubois backyard, about a half an hour before the party was supposed to start, when Joe said, "Where are Ariel and Hannah?"

"Uh, they disappeared about an hour ago," Allison responded, "I think Ariel was getting Hannah to help her get ready."

As if on cue, Ariel came skipping out from the house, wearing a short, pink, strapless dress, with platform white sneakers, and her long blonde hair in pigtails.

"Look, Mommy," Ariel did a spin, "What do you think?"

"Wow, Ariel," Allison smiled, "Hannah did a great job! Did you say thank you?"

"Of course," Ariel nodded, a smile on her face.

"Where's Hannah?" Lee asked in what he hoped was a casual voice.

Ariel, apparently, didn't think it was very casual, as a devilish smile appeared on her face, and said, "She's still getting ready."

"Huh." Lee nodded, and Ariel said, "Hey, Detective Scanlon, do you think that you could help me make sure there are enough cups and stuff for everybody?"

Lee would've liked to have said no, because he knew as soon as Ariel had him alone, she would begin on the Hannah subject, but he knew he couldn't, so he nodded.

He followed the oldest of the three Dubois', and as soon as they were at the table that Joe had set up, Ariel said, "Detective Scanlon, can I ask you something?"

"Um…" Lee hesitated, "Sure, Ariel, what's up?"

"Okay, say you have this _friend_." Ariel began, "And this friend has this thing for someone who's _really_ close to you," She paused, before adding in a mischievous tone, "Practically like _family_. But this _friend_, they won't admit that they have a thing for this person who is practically like family, what would you suggest I do?"

"I would suggest that this person who is practically like family's little cousin butt out of things that aren't her business." Lee said.

Ariel frowned, and then said, "Come _on_, it's obvious to me, and _everyone_ else, that you _like_ her, you _like_ her as more than a friend."

"Ariel," Lee sighed.

"Look, tonight, there's a song on one of the play list's, its one of Hannah's _all time_ favorite songs," Ariel said, "It's called _Hysteria_, it's by Def Leppard."

"I know the song, Ariel," Lee nodded.

"Well, for a birthday present to me, I think you should ask her to dance." Ariel said.

"No," Lee shook his head.

"Come on, please?" Ariel looked at him, "I never ask you for _anything_, and this is the _only_ thing I want from you for my birthday."

Lee didn't have a chance to respond, because he was too busy picking his jaw up off the ground as Hannah came out of the house. It was more than a little bit apparent that Hannah was a child of the late eighties and early nineties, as her costume had been perfected to the way only a child of that time period would be able to do.

Her long dark hair had been teased and curled, so it was a wavy mess, with a large black bow in the midst of it, an off the shoulder black t-shirt, with a black tank top (that showed quite a bit of her stomach), and a skirt that could've been compared to a tutu with all the ruffles.

She was wearing lacey leggings underneath her skirt and black ankle boots, her eyes were heavily lined and she was wearing bright blue eye shadow, along with numerous layers of bracelets, and necklaces.

"Oh, little dreamer, take a look at you!" Allison exclaimed, a smile wide on her face. "God, I remember when you used to dress like this all the time."

"It was a lot of work," Hannah said, "I'm glad I gave up on this whole thing," She motioned to her outfit with a hand that was wearing black, lacey, fingerless gloves.

"Wow, Hannah, you look great," Ariel said, looking at her cousin with a smile on her face.

"Thanks," Hannah smiled, "You look pretty great yourself!" She then spotted Lee and said, "So, you didn't dress up, huh?"

It took Lee a few moments to find his voice, before he said, "Hey, I'm wearing a _pastel_ shirt, okay? Don Johnson, _Miami Vice_."

"Ah, right," Hannah nodded, "I was more of a _Magnum_ girl, myself."

"Of course you were," Lee shook his head.

After people started arriving, Hannah walked over to Lee, her many different pieces of jewelry clinking as she did. She looked at him with eyes that looked even more blue with the thick black eyeliner around them. "So, what do you think?"

"Of what?" Lee decided playing dumb would be the best approach.

"Of the weather," Hannah said sarcastically, "Of my outfit, _duh_."

"Oh, um, it's… it's nice, Hannah."

It may have been his imagination, but Hannah looked slightly disappointed. "Thanks,"

At that moment, _Hysteria_ by Def Leppard started playing. All of Ariel's friends got into awkward little ninth grade couples, and Lee caught the look that Ariel was giving him. The look that was saying "_If you don't ask her to dance, I'm throwing a tantrum_".

Hannah seemed to realize what song was playing and said, "I _love_ this song."

"Yeah? You, uh, wanna dance?" Lee cringed at his awkward tone, and felt strangely as though he'd just asked the most popular girl in school to the prom.

Hannah looked confused. "Huh?"

"I mean, if you don't, that's okay too—"

"No, no," Hannah interrupted in a hurried voice, "Let's dance."

Lee hadn't expected her to say yes, but they moved away slightly from where he had been standing and he awkwardly put his arms around her waist, while trying to ignore the fact that his heart was beating incredibly loudly.

"So," Hannah said after a few moments, "This is new."

Lee nodded, a slight grin breaking onto his face.

They were both quiet, before Lee said, "So, you said you love this song?"

Hannah nodded, "I went through this phase, where I was like, addicted, to Def Leppard, and I made my mom buy me all the posters and CD's she could find, and I was _totally_ in love with Joe Elliott."

"No way," Lee grinned.

"Way." Hannah nodded.

Lee shook his head, chuckling, "Hannah, you are… a very different girl than I expected you to be."

"Thank you?" Hannah wasn't sure whether this was a compliment or not.

"It's a good thing," He assured her.

"Then thanks," She paused and then said, "For the record… you're different than I thought you were going to be too." She smiled at him and than dropped her gaze.

"Thanks,"

They continued dancing together, closely, closer than Lee had anticipated, and he sighed, and realized that maybe everyone was right. Maybe he did like Hannah just a little bit more than he really should have.

* * *


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen.**

The next morning, it took Hannah a few moments to realize where she was. First of all, she was wearing clothes that she _knew_ were not hers, second, she was sleeping in an unfamiliar bed, and third of all, she was tangled up under several thick blankets with none other than Detective Lee Scanlon.

After a few moments of blinking blearily, Hannah recalled vaguely that Lee had brought her to his apartment after they had gone to the bar. A few moments after that, Hannah's headache hit her like a two-by-four.

"Ouch." She murmured, flopping back on the pillow.

Lee stirred in his sleep, blinked his dark brown eyes, and looked at the girl laying next to him, "Hangover hit you, Benoit?"

"Mm." Hannah didn't even have the energy to respond.

"I _told_ you so," Lee said, shaking his head. "Here, stay here, and I'll go and get you a Tylenol, okay?"

"Uh-huh," Hannah covered her eyes with her hands, as the sunlight was starting to make the back of her eyes ache.

Lee made his way out to the kitchen and found a Tylenol for Hannah, and grabbed her a large class of cold water. When he re-entered his bedroom, he found Hannah burying her face in the pillows.

"Hey," He spoke in a quiet voice, which surprised him. If it had been anyone else, he would've spoken loudly on purpose. "Here you go,"

Hannah cracked one blue eye at him, and said, "Okay, next time we go to a bar… tell me not to drink. Ever. Okay?"

Lee grinned at the prospect of going to a bar with Hannah again, "Okay."

* * *

Thanksgiving dinner was an awkward situation.

Allison was seated at one end of the table and Joe was seated at the other, with Ariel, Hannah, and Lee, on one side of the table, and Bridget, Gisele, and Marie on the other.

Hannah and Gisele were sitting across from each other, and Lee had a feeling that Hannah was considering all the way to accidentally kill herself with a butter knife.

"Hey," Lee said softly in the middle of the meal, "Are you okay?" Hannah had been strangely silent.

Hannah looked at him and sighed quietly, "If you have to ask…" But she forced a smile, and said, "I think I can make it through _one_ dinner."

"Well, if you can't, just think of all the things that are _worse_ than this dinner." Lee advised her.

"Like what?" Hannah wrinkled her nose.

"Puppies dying, people getting kidnapped, plane crashes, David Caruso's acting," Lee glanced at her from the corner of his eye, and was pleased to see her laughing.

She still looked _so_ tired, even though she had slept soundly the night before, and for almost an entire week, three weeks before, but her smile, Lee noted happily, was completely genuine.

Lee glanced across the table, and caught the questioning look that Gisele was giving him. He quickly looked away, and focused back on cheering Hannah up.

* * *

After dinner, Lee somehow ended up alone in the kitchen with Gisele. They were both silent at first, and then Gisele broke the ice, by saying, "So, you seem to be very close with my daughter."

Lee knew that Allison hadn't told Gisele about his being around or with Hannah 24/7 had to do with the fact that there was a psycho chasing her, so he just nodded in response.

"Look, Lee, you seem like a nice guy, so I'll just be straightforward with you," Gisele tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. "I know."

"Know what?" Lee looked at Gisele, confused.

"How you feel about Hannah," Gisele replied, blinking her green eyes, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How I…" Lee repeated, "What do you mean, Gisele?"

Gisele smiled faintly, "So this is how it's going to be, huh?" She shook her head, "Okay. I'm not blind, Lee, I can see it." She lowered her voice slightly, "I know you're in love with her."

Lee gaped at Gisele, unable to think of something to say in return.

"I think it'll be good for her," Gisele said, "She's not had a very good experience with men in general. Something she picked up from her mother," Gisele sounded slightly sorry about this, "I think you'd be good for her."

"Gisele, listen, you've got it all wrong," He began.

Gisele raised her eyebrows, "Do I?"

Lee nodded.

Gisele said, "Well, you might not realize it yet, but you're in love with Hannah."

"Sure," Lee said sarcastically. "I think you're just imagining things."

Gisele smirked faintly, and patted Lee on the arm, "I know I didn't _imagine_ the way you look at her,"

And with that, Gisele left the kitchen, and left Lee to ponder over what she had just said.

* * *

Gisele left the day after Thanksgiving dinner, and the next few weeks passed without too much drama. Though, over the passing days, Lee found himself thinking very seriously about what Gisele had said to him. He had tried his hardest to figure out _why_ he'd been thinking so hard on it, but he just couldn't figure it out.

One day in early December, Hannah came into the addition and dropped two separate outfits on the bed. "Pick one."

Lee glanced at what she had put on the bed and then looked at her, "What for?"

"Ariel's birthday party tonight," Hannah gave him a strange look, "You forgot didn't you?"

"No, no, I didn't forget," Lee shook his head, "It's just… that's tonight?"

Hannah nodded, still looking at him strangely, "Are you okay? You haven't been acting like yourself lately."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lee nodded. "So, can I ask why both the outfits look as though they just stepped out of a trip to the '80's?"

"You _so_ forgot," Hannah said in an accusing voice, and then said, "Ariel's birthday is a retro party."

"Ah, right." Lee nodded, and then pointed to one of the two outfits. "That one."

"Thanks," Hannah smiled, she was on her way to her new, almost finished, bedroom, when she turned and said, "What are you dressing up as?"

"I don't dress up, Benoit. I'm a little bit old for that, don't you think?"

Hannah shook her head, smiling slightly, "Nope."

"I am _not_ dressing up." Lee informed her.

Hannah stuck out her bottom lip, "Come on, Scanlon, if you don't dress up, you'll stick out like a sore thumb." She blinked her large eyes and said, "Come _on_, it'll be fun."

"Forget about it." Lee shook his head.

"How _rude_." Hannah remarked, frowning, before turning on her heel and walking into her bedroom, leaving Lee to chuckle at her.

* * *

Lee had partially fallen victim to Hannah's guilt trip. He had forced himself to wear a pastel shirt, which he figured, could pass as retro.

He was standing with Allison and Joe, in the Dubois backyard, about a half an hour before the party was supposed to start, when Joe said, "Where are Ariel and Hannah?"

"Uh, they disappeared about an hour ago," Allison responded, "I think Ariel was getting Hannah to help her get ready."

As if on cue, Ariel came skipping out from the house, wearing a short, pink, strapless dress, with platform white sneakers, and her long blonde hair in pigtails.

"Look, Mommy," Ariel did a spin, "What do you think?"

"Wow, Ariel," Allison smiled, "Hannah did a great job! Did you say thank you?"

"Of course," Ariel nodded, a smile on her face.

"Where's Hannah?" Lee asked in what he hoped was a casual voice.

Ariel, apparently, didn't think it was very casual, as a devilish smile appeared on her face, and said, "She's still getting ready."

"Huh." Lee nodded, and Ariel said, "Hey, Detective Scanlon, do you think that you could help me make sure there are enough cups and stuff for everybody?"

Lee would've liked to have said no, because he knew as soon as Ariel had him alone, she would begin on the Hannah subject, but he knew he couldn't, so he nodded.

He followed the oldest of the three Dubois', and as soon as they were at the table that Joe had set up, Ariel said, "Detective Scanlon, can I ask you something?"

"Um…" Lee hesitated, "Sure, Ariel, what's up?"

"Okay, say you have this _friend_." Ariel began, "And this friend has this thing for someone who's _really_ close to you," She paused, before adding in a mischievous tone, "Practically like _family_. But this _friend_, they won't admit that they have a thing for this person who is practically like family, what would you suggest I do?"

"I would suggest that this person who is practically like family's little cousin butt out of things that aren't her business." Lee said.

Ariel frowned, and then said, "Come _on_, it's obvious to me, and _everyone_ else, that you _like_ her, you _like_ her as more than a friend."

"Ariel," Lee sighed.

"Look, tonight, there's a song on one of the play list's, its one of Hannah's _all time_ favorite songs," Ariel said, "It's called _Hysteria_, it's by Def Leppard."

"I know the song, Ariel," Lee nodded.

"Well, for a birthday present to me, I think you should ask her to dance." Ariel said.

"No," Lee shook his head.

"Come on, please?" Ariel looked at him, "I never ask you for _anything_, and this is the _only_ thing I want from you for my birthday."

Lee didn't have a chance to respond, because he was too busy picking his jaw up off the ground as Hannah came out of the house. It was more than a little bit apparent that Hannah was a child of the late eighties and early nineties, as her costume had been perfected to the way only a child of that time period would be able to do.

Her long dark hair had been teased and curled, so it was a wavy mess, with a large black bow in the midst of it, an off the shoulder black t-shirt, with a black tank top (that showed quite a bit of her stomach), and a skirt that could've been compared to a tutu with all the ruffles.

She was wearing lacey leggings underneath her skirt and black ankle boots, her eyes were heavily lined and she was wearing bright blue eye shadow, along with numerous layers of bracelets, and necklaces.

"Oh, little dreamer, take a look at you!" Allison exclaimed, a smile wide on her face. "God, I remember when you used to dress like this all the time."

"It was a lot of work," Hannah said, "I'm glad I gave up on this whole thing," She motioned to her outfit with a hand that was wearing black, lacey, fingerless gloves.

"Wow, Hannah, you look great," Ariel said, looking at her cousin with a smile on her face.

"Thanks," Hannah smiled, "You look pretty great yourself!" She then spotted Lee and said, "So, you didn't dress up, huh?"

It took Lee a few moments to find his voice, before he said, "Hey, I'm wearing a _pastel_ shirt, okay? Don Johnson, _Miami Vice_."

"Ah, right," Hannah nodded, "I was more of a _Magnum_ girl, myself."

"Of course you were," Lee shook his head.

After people started arriving, Hannah walked over to Lee, her many different pieces of jewelry clinking as she did. She looked at him with eyes that looked even more blue with the thick black eyeliner around them. "So, what do you think?"

"Of what?" Lee decided playing dumb would be the best approach.

"Of the weather," Hannah said sarcastically, "Of my outfit, _duh_."

"Oh, um, it's… it's nice, Hannah."

It may have been his imagination, but Hannah looked slightly disappointed. "Thanks,"

At that moment, _Hysteria_ by Def Leppard started playing. All of Ariel's friends got into awkward little ninth grade couples, and Lee caught the look that Ariel was giving him. The look that was saying "_If you don't ask her to dance, I'm throwing a tantrum_".

Hannah seemed to realize what song was playing and said, "I _love_ this song."

"Yeah? You, uh, wanna dance?" Lee cringed at his awkward tone, and felt strangely as though he'd just asked the most popular girl in school to the prom.

Hannah looked confused. "Huh?"

"I mean, if you don't, that's okay too—"

"No, no," Hannah interrupted in a hurried voice, "Let's dance."

Lee hadn't expected her to say yes, but they moved away slightly from where he had been standing and he awkwardly put his arms around her waist, while trying to ignore the fact that his heart was beating incredibly loudly.

"So," Hannah said after a few moments, "This is new."

Lee nodded, a slight grin breaking onto his face.

They were both quiet, before Lee said, "So, you said you love this song?"

Hannah nodded, "I went through this phase, where I was like, addicted, to Def Leppard, and I made my mom buy me all the posters and CD's she could find, and I was _totally_ in love with Joe Elliott."

"No way," Lee grinned.

"Way." Hannah nodded.

Lee shook his head, chuckling, "Hannah, you are… a very different girl than I expected you to be."

"Thank you?" Hannah wasn't sure whether this was a compliment or not.

"It's a good thing," He assured her.

"Then thanks," She paused and then said, "For the record… you're different than I thought you were going to be too." She smiled at him and than dropped her gaze.

"Thanks,"

They continued dancing together, closely, closer than Lee had anticipated, and he sighed, and realized that maybe everyone was right. Maybe he did like Hannah just a little bit more than he really should have.

* * *


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen.**

Things had begun simply enough.

Hannah had offered to hang out with just Ariel, about a week after her party. Things only became complicated when Ariel suddenly decided that she wanted to play MASH.

"Come on, Ariel, I'm almost 22-years-old, aren't I a _little_ bit old to be playing MASH?" Hannah asked, looking at her younger cousin.

"You're never to old to play MASH." Ariel said.

"Ariel,"

"Come on, Hannah, it'll be _fun_," Ariel smiled, "And then we can do something _you_ want to do."

"_Fine._" Hannah sighed, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, "Who goes first?"

* * *

Lee was the one who found the piece of paper that Ariel had "accidentally" left in the living room.

"Hey, what's that?" Allison asked, as she entered the room.

"Um, I actually have _no_ clue." Lee said in a puzzled tone.

"Let me see," Allison took the piece of paper from him and then laughed as she realized what it was.

"What?" Lee looked at her curiously.

"It's MASH." Allison said.

"And that would be…?"

"A game teenagers play," Allison said, "MASH stands for Mansion, Apartment, Shack and House. This whole game is about your future, where you live, what you live in, how many kids you have, who you're with…"

"So I don't get what's so amusing," Lee said.

"You're on this list." Allison informed him, "Number one. And seeing as this is Ariel's writing… I would say that you're Hannah's number one choice." She looked at him, waiting for a reaction.

Lee looked pleased, but surprised at the same time, and Allison said, "You like her, huh?"

"Allison…"

"It's okay," Allison said, "Actually, I think it's great."

"You do?" Lee raised his eyebrows.

Allison nodded, "Well, _yeah_. You're a good guy, and I think you'll be good for her," She smiled, "So are you going to tell her?"

"I don't think it would be the best idea," Lee murmured, scratching his head absently, "I mean, I'm her protection."

"You're her protection, so what? You think that if you get involved with her, that'll jeopardize how much you want to protect her?" Allison scoffed, "Wouldn't it actually be the other way around? If you two get involved, you'll be more prone to protect her, right?"

"Well, I, uh," Lee was stumbling over his words awkwardly.

"I think you should talk to her," Allison instructed, "It's obvious she has feelings for you too."

"Allison," Lee was beginning to feel slightly embarrassed.

"I'm just being helpful," Allison said, smiling.

"What are you being helpful about?" Hannah asked as she and Ariel came into the room together. Ariel spotted the piece of paper in her mother's hand and grinned widely, as Hannah didn't seem to be quite paying attention to what was happening, as she looked around the living room.

"Nothing, sweetheart," Allison replied, "What are you looking for?"

"My bright purple Sharpie." Hannah responded as though this was the most average answer on the planet, "I had it out here when I was with Ariel, but now I can't seem to find it."

"Check the couch cushions," Ariel offered as a suggestion.

Instead of walking around the back of the couch, and lifting up the cushions, like any _normal_ person would have done, Hannah leaned over the back of the couch, so her torso was practically plastered against the back of the couch, and her legs were lifted off the ground slightly.

It took Lee a few seconds to realize he was staring at her, but Ariel noticed right away and smirked.

"Found it!" Hannah exclaimed, standing up. She seemed to notice that Lee was giving her a strange look and said, in a pointed voice, "_What_?"

"What?" Lee was using the dumb approach again.

Hannah didn't say anything more, she just narrowed her eyes, before Ariel said, "Come on, Hannah, _The OC_ is going to be on soon."

Hannah nodded and then she and Ariel left the room.

Allison glanced at Lee and said, "You should tell her, that's all I'm saying."

* * *

"Hannah, can I ask you something?" Ariel asked, as she and her cousin lay on Hannah's bed, watching the opening credits to _The OC_, Ariel's current favorite show.

"Sure," Hannah nodded.

"Say you knew this person, and you two were _super_ close, practically like sisters," Ariel was getting pretty good at using these hypothetical situations to find out what she wanted.

"Okay," Hannah nodded, not looking away from the screen as Seth Cohen and Ryan Atwood had a conversation.

"Okay, and you _knew_ that there was this other person who really, _really_ liked this person who was practically like a sister," Ariel said carefully, looking at Hannah, "And you have a feeling that this person who is practically like a sister has feelings for the person who likes her. Would you tell this person who is practically like your sister what you think?"

Hannah looked at Ariel, with a slightly strange expression on her face, and then said, "Well, yeah, I mean… I guess so."

"Okay," Ariel nodded. She left silence for a few moments, and then said, "Hannah, Detective Scanlon likes you."

Hannah's dark eyebrows shot up her forehead, "_What?_ Where did that come from?"

Ariel shrugged, "It's the truth."

"Oh, because Lee confides his deep dark secrets in a fifteen year old girl?" Hannah raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"The reason you're being so defensive is because you know it's true." Ariel said calmly.

"It's not true, Ariel. He could have any girl he wanted, and I'm 105% sure that the girl he wants is _not_ me." Hannah said.

"I beg to differ." Ariel said.

"Why, because you're getting a vibe?" Hannah made a face.

"_No_, because I had a dream about it the other night." Ariel said.

Hannah's gaze snapped away from the television to look at her cousin, "Excuse me?"

Ariel nodded. "Yeah, the other night, I had a dream that you and Detective Scanlon were getting married."

"Are you sure that wasn't just wishful thinking?" Hannah asked.

Ariel shook her head, "It was too real to be wishful thinking."

"Well, Ariel, Lee and I aren't getting married." Hannah said seriously, "And he _doesn't_ like me, so don't say he does."

"But he _does_!" Ariel exclaimed. "Why do you think he'd ask you to dance at my birthday party?"

"Because he felt lame not dancing with anyone?" Hannah knew that this was not going to hold up as a reason as to why he asked her to dance.

"Or because he's totally in love with you, and _you_ are in denial." Ariel said confidently.

Hannah shook her head, "Or maybe I'm the realistic one here, and _you_ are in denial, little cousin." She pushed herself up off the bed, "I'll be back. And let this argument go while I'm gone, ok?"

"Forget about it!" Ariel called after her.

* * *

When Hannah entered the kitchen, Allison took this as her time to talk to Hannah about Lee, while Lee was helping Joe bring in things to paint Hannah's bedroom.

"Hi, sweetie," Allison smiled.

"Hey." Hannah sat down across from her without Allison having to say anything. "So, Ariel has it into her head that Lee likes me."

"You don't say," Allison smiled faintly.

"It's crazy," Hannah rolled her eyes, "I mean, _why_ would he like me?"

"Hannah, why wouldn't he like you?" Allison looked at her seriously, "You're a wonderful person, and you're beautiful, not that looks come first in a relationship." She leaned across the table and squeezed her niece's hand.

"But I'm also a freak who has dreams about the guy who wants to kill her, and in case you haven't noticed, my mother's kind of insane too, and most people find that kind of a turn off."

"I honestly don't think he cares about that stuff, sweetheart," Allison said, and then paused, "Do you like him?"

"No." Hannah's response was a little too quick for Allison's satisfaction, so she raised her eyebrows at her niece, and Hannah sighed deeply, "I don't know, Aunt Allison. I mean… We're really great friends, obviously, he's spent practically every moment of every day together for the past three months, and he's an awesome guy, honestly," Hannah paused, "I just don't think he'd see me that way, you know?"

"You never know, honey." Allison said, "Sometimes the best relationships develop out of friendships."

"Yeah, but most of the time, I'm pretty sure in the best relationships, the guy isn't 8 years older than the girl," Hannah said.

"I know this isn't a good example, but both your mother _and_ your grandmother dated men much older than they were," Allison said.

"And look at how well _that_ turned out." Hannah said sarcastically.

"Well, Giselle's endeavors may not have turned out very well, but your grandma dated three men who were quite a bit older than her, and those three relationships lasted the longest of any she's ever been in." Allison said fairly.

"But wasn't Grandma Birdy also the one who dated all the mobsters?" Hannah asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Hannah, are you just arguing for the sake of arguing?" Allison asked.

Hannah shrugged, and Allison said, "Listen to me, you'll never know until you try, and if you don't even try, you're going to hate yourself years from now, because you're going to be wondering what would've happened if you _had_ tried."

"But, Aunt Allison, it's not that easy,"

"Sweetheart, it isn't that hard either," Allison informed her, "Just give it a try, okay?"

Hannah looked hesitant, and Allison thought she was about to respond when Lee came into the room, "Uh, Hannah? Joe wants to know where you want what colors in your room."

"Okay," Hannah nodded, and stood up from the table. She walked past Lee, and Allison said, in an undertone "I wish you two would stop being so stubborn."

* * *


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen.**

It was a few days later when Hannah was sitting at the breakfast table, drawing in her sketchbook when things were further complicated. Not necessarily complicated in a bad way, just generally complicated.

Lee was casually watching Hannah draw, something he'd been doing a lot of lately (watching her casually, not just watching her draw), when suddenly the doorbell rang.

Lee heard Allison talking cheerfully with another woman, and Hannah hadn't even seemed to notice that the doorbell had rung.

A few moments later, Allison came into the kitchen and said, "Hannah, guess who just showed up!"

Hannah dragged her blue eyes up from her sketchbook and then gaped as an older woman entered the kitchen.

"Hey, little dreamer," She said in a slightly smoky voice.

"Gram? What are you doing here?" Hannah pushed her chair out from the table, and walked over to hug the woman.

"Well, I'm here to see my _favorite_ granddaughter, of course." The woman kissed the top of Hannah's head.

Hannah looked slightly suspicious, but Allison said, "Lee, let me introduce you to Hannah's grandmother, Brid—"

"Oh, please, Allison, I thought we were finished with the formalities," The woman shook her head, "You can call me Birdy, everybody does."

Lee grinned slightly, and Allison said, "My aunt, Birdy, Birdy, this is Lee Scanlon, a friend of ours."

"Pleased to meet you." Birdy extended her hand, smiling lopsidedly at him.

"You as well." Lee nodded.

Birdy smiled, and then said, "Hannah Lucille, has Allison been feeding you?"

"Of course she has, Gram!" Hannah nodded, looking sincere.

"You just don't look very healthy. You don't look like you sleep either," Birdy remarked, "Too much fun, Little Dreamer?"

"Hardly," Hannah scoffed under her breath. "I'm just cramming for exams, Gram. Aunt Allison's been taking great care of me, promise."

Birdy smiled and put a wrinkled hand on Hannah's pale face, "You look good other than that though. How is university going?"

"It's good," Hannah nodded, her dark hair swaying as she did.

Birdy began talking about living in Vegas to Allison, and Hannah glanced at Lee, shooting him an apologetic smile. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

"So, what's your grandmother doing here?" Lee asked as he and Hannah walked around the neighborhood with Bridget and Marie.

Hannah shrugged, "I don't know, actually. She doesn't come around very often."

"Why's that?" Lee asked.

Hannah pursed her lips and then said, "I remind her of my mother when she was younger."

"So that's why she doesn't come around?" Lee raised his eyebrows. "That's not really fair."

Hannah shrugged, "That's life, though, right?"

"Hannah, things are going to get better for you." Lee assured her.

"Uh-huh," Hannah didn't believe him, he could tell from the look on her face. "Tell me that _after_ they catch the guy who's _still_ stalking me, and when my mom really cleans up her act."

"Oh, Hannah," Lee sighed.

"Women in this family frustrate me," Hannah stated, "With the exception of Aunt Allison, of course. My mother is crazy, and my grandmother thinks I could be crazy just because I look a lot like my mom did when she was my age. She's judging me before she even gets to know me." Hannah let out a low sigh, "It's like nothing I can do will ever be good enough, you know?"

"I _do_ know where you're coming from there," Lee nodded.

Hannah looked at him quizzically.

"My father… he seems to be a lot more like your grandmother than I thought." Lee nodded.

"Really?" Hannah looked surprised.

"Yeah," Lee nodded, "Remember how I said I was going to be a doctor?"

"Yeah," Hannah nodded.

"Yeah, that was my father's idea," Lee admitted, "I wasn't into being a doctor, but my father wanted me to honor the family name."

"He didn't think that being a cop would be honoring the family name?" Hannah asked, looking confused.

Lee chuckled bitterly and shook his head, "Not exactly." He looked at Hannah, "My father's idea of honoring the family name would be being a doctor or a lawyer."

"But you said you didn't like the idea of being a doctor," Hannah said.

Lee nodded, "And the idea of being a lawyer only _slightly_ bores me." He paused before saying, "Needless to say, my father wasn't very happy about it."

Hannah looked at him sadly, before saying, "What happened?"

"He threw me out, Hannah," Lee sighed, "Said if I was going to pursue the worthless dream of being a cop, that I was no son of his."

"But that's not fair," Hannah said, looking upset. "Your dad threw you out because you didn't want to do something that would make you unhappy."

Lee shrugged, and then said, "Just like it isn't fair that your grandmother judges you without even getting to know you."

Comprehension passed over Hannah's pretty face, "You're right," She blinked and then looked at him, "I guess we're more alike than we though, huh?"

Lee nodded, "Yeah, I guess so."

* * *

That night, Hannah couldn't sleep. Too many thoughts were going on in her head, so she just couldn't stop thinking. So she went out to the back porch and curled up in a ball, looking at the stars and thinking some more.

"You should be in bed, Little Dreamer," Birdy's smoky voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Yeah, I know, Gram," Hannah nodded slowly, "I can't sleep."

"Well, that's no good, now, is it?" Birdy came outside, wrapped in a midnight blue housecoat, "What's on your mind, Hannah?"

"It's kind of a long story," Hannah sighed, resting her chin on her knees, her blue eyes glowing in the pale moonlight.

"I've got all the time in the world," Birdy said fairly.

Hannah remained thoughtfully silent, as Birdy said, "It's about that boy, isn't it?"

Hannah looked at her grandmother, confused, "What boy, Gram?"

"That… boy. Lee Scanlon." Birdy looked at her granddaughter as though it were the simplest thing on the planet.

"What about Lee?" Hannah didn't understand where her grandmother was going with this.

"Hannah… do you love him?" Birdy asked simply.

Hannah stared at her grandmother for a solid minute or two before stuttering, "Wh-What?"

Birdy blinked her own navy eyes, and smiled lopsidedly at her granddaughter.

"No, Gram," Hannah shook her head fervently, "I… don't."

"You don't what, Hannah?" Birdy raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I don't… what you said. I don't." Hannah's voice was soft.

"Are you sure?" Birdy asked, a smile ghosting across her face.

Hannah didn't say anything, and Birdy continued, "Because, you know, if you did, that would be okay." She paused, "And if you did… that could explain why you can't say that you don't love him."

Hannah blinked, her blue eyes round, and said nothing.

Birdy leaned over and kissed Hannah's forehead, "Go to sleep, Little Dreamer, and don't worry about things like this. You have nothing to worry about."

"That's what you think, Gram." Hannah murmured, frowning.

"What do you think, Hannah?" Birdy looked at her granddaughter expectantly.

"That even if I did… which I don't," Hannah said carefully, "It doesn't matter. He doesn't love me."

Birdy laughed, and shook her head, "Oh, that's what you think, is it?" She kissed her granddaughter's forehead again, "You couldn't be more wrong, Hannah-girl. Now, I'm going to bed. Don't be up too late."

Birdy went back inside, and Hannah took in a slightly shaking breath. She tried not to think about what she had just been conversing with her grandmother, but it was so goddamn hard.

… Especially when Lee Scanlon came and leaned against the doorframe, looking at her with expectant brown eyes. "You should be asleep, Hannah."

"I know," She murmured.

He continued looking at her, and said, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Hannah looked at him.

"Whatever is keeping you from sleeping," Lee said.

Hannah shook her head, "I don't think so,"

"Is it about the case?" Lee asked, closing the patio door behind him, and sitting in the empty chair beside her.

Hannah shook her head a second time, "No, it's not about the case."

Lee nodded slowly, "Are you okay?"

Hannah nodded in response, "Yeah, I think I'm fine." She looked at him and smiled faintly, "Don't worry about me, I really doubt you need more on your plate than you already have,"

Lee almost smiled, and then said, "Yeah, I'll try not to worry, Hannah…" He paused before saying, "I just can't help it."

"Why? Because I'm danger prone?" Hannah was attempting at a joke.

"No," Lee shook his head, "Because I care about you."

Hannah looked down at her bare feet, and bit her lip thoughtfully. Things had just gotten incredibly serious feeling in between the two.

Lee put a hand on her shoulder, and said, "You know, if you ever need to talk, I'm here for you, right?"

Hannah nodded, "Yeah, I know," Her voice was quiet, "I'm here for you too."

Lee smiled faintly, and then said, "You should go to bed, Hannah,"

"I'm not tired," Hannah mumbled, not missing the fact that Lee's hand was staying on her shoulder.

"Tell the truth," Lee said, "I know you're tired, I see the dark circles," He squeezed her shoulder, "At least try to sleep, Hannah… for me?"

Hannah looked at him and for a solid three minutes or more, she and Lee locked eyes. Hannah swallowed, and then nodded, "Yeah, you're probably right. Sleep is a good idea." She stood up, moving away from his grasp, "Have a good night, Lee."

She hurried inside, wondering why her heart wouldn't stop fluttering the way it was, and Lee murmured, "Good night, Hannah."

* * *

"_Oh, my, Little Dreamer, would you look at you," Allison's blue eyes were welling up with tears, "You look so beautiful."_

_Hannah didn't know why but she felt near tears herself, "Thanks, Aunt Allison." She ran her hands over the soft white silk of the dress she wondered __**why**__ she was so dressed up. The dress was beautiful, or at least she thought it was. It even __**felt**__ expensive._

"_You may not want to hear it, sweetie," Allison said carefully, "But you look so much like your mother right now."_

_Hannah stiffened at the mention of Gisele, and Allison continued, "I'm sure she'd do anything to be here with you right now."_

_Hannah found herself pausing before saying, "Do you miss her?"_

_Allison nodded, "I didn't think I would… but I do. I know you do too, sweetheart."_

_Hannah nodded slowly, sniffling._

_Allison hauled her niece into a hug, "I love you, honey."_

"_Love you too," Hannah mumbled, trying not to cry, knowing she would mess up her make-up, and that would screw up the photos. She wasn't sure which photos, but she knew there were photos involved._

"_Hannah? It's time to go, kiddo," Joe stuck his head in. He shot her a large grin, "Are you ready?"_

_Hannah nodded, still sniffling, "I've always been ready, Uncle Joe."_

"_That's what I want to hear from my girl," Joe stuck out his arm, and Hannah took it. _

_It wasn't until they reached the doors, that Hannah realized they were on a beach. It has always been her dream to get married on a beach… and that's when the light went on. _

_The white dress, everyone being dressed up, Joe taking her by the arm, feeling as though she was going to cry… and then the fact that __**Annie's Song**__ by John Denver started playing the minute they walked onto the beach._

_**Annie's Song**__ had been Hannah's dream wedding song for as long as she could remember. Well, originally, she'd wanted it to be __**All I Have To Give**__ by the Backstreet Boys, but whoever she was marrying, her thoughts were telling her, didn't think that the Backstreet Boys were very mature._

_When Hannah saw who was standing at the end of the makeshift aisle though, she almost started crying. Or almost fainted, either or. _

_Everything about the wedding was perfect, from the beach and the pretty cotton dresses with the fancy tuxedos, to the forget-me-nots, and the sun shining brightly in the sky, and, Hannah realized, even her groom was what was new her definition of perfect. _

_He shot her his signature lopsided smile, and Hannah felt her heart flutter. God, she loved him…_

Hannah jerked awake, gasping for breath. She looked at the clock, and saw a large **3:34** glaring back at her. She'd been asleep for three hours, even though that dream had hardly seemed like minutes.

She let out a sigh and lay back down in bed, still trying to catch her breath. She ran a hand over her face and cursed softly. Her grandmother had been right… she loved Lee Scanlon.  


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**Aw :) I loved writing this chapter. Thank you for some reviews finally, I find it so hard to continue writing when nobody reviews! :P Please keep it up! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen.**

Hannah woke up the next morning and sighed softly, remembering the dream she had had. She stared at the ceiling in her bedroom for a few moments, before there was a knock on the door. She propped herself up on her elbows, and Lee stuck his head in.

"Good morning," He smiled at her.

"Hey," Hannah's voice was groggy sounding.

"You have a good sleep?" Lee leaned against her doorframe, and continued smiling at her.

Hannah nodded, feeling confused. This had been the first time she'd slept well in ages, and she had dreamt of… She felt a slight shiver go through her. "Did you?"

Lee nodded, "Hey, you know what I was thinking?"

Hannah shook her head, "No, Lee, what were you thinking?"

"We should do something fun today," Lee said.

Hannah was surprised, "You want to do something fun?"

"Hey, I know how to have fun," Lee said, looking at her seriously, "How does a movie sound?"

"That all depends," Hannah sat up, her dark hair falling over her shoulders, "What movie?"

"Well, that all depends," Lee chuckled, "What movie would you _like_ to see?"

"I have to say, that _X-Men _movie looks pretty enticing." Hannah nodded fairly.

"Are you sure you're not just saying this because you have an unbelievably massive crush on Hugh Jackman?" Lee raised his eyebrows.

"… No?" Hannah grinned slightly, and Lee laughed.

"Okay, we'll go and see _X-Men_, if you want." He nodded, smiling.

"Okay," Hannah nodded also, and smiled, "Sounds like a plan, Lee Scanlon."

Lee grinned at her, "Okay, good. How does 3 sound?"

"Well, let me check my oh-so-busy schedule." Hannah said sarcastically, before smiling, "3 should be fine."

Lee nodded, "All right, then. Oh, your grandmother's making pancakes for breakfast… she wanted me to tell you."

"Awesome," Hannah grinned, "I'll be out in a second."

After Lee left her room, Hannah tried to calm herself down. It wasn't that big of a deal that Lee had asked her to the movies, they were friends, and friends went to the movies together. It wasn't as though he had asked her on a date or anything, right?

* * *

Whether it was a date or not, Hannah took time to straighten her notoriously wavy hair, and asked Ariel her opinion on what she should wear.

"Where are you going?" Ariel asked, raising one of her pale eyebrows.

"To the movies," Hannah said airily.

"With _who_?" Ariel was almost smirking.

Hannah rolled her blue eyes, and said, "Lee, okay? Lee is taking me to go see _X-Men_."

"Well, if there was ever a blossoming romance film, that would be it." Ariel said sarcastically.

"We're _not_ a blossoming romance, Ariel." Hannah stated, as she dragged the straightener through her hair.

"Yeah, and Marcia and Greg from _The Brady Bunch _never had anything going on." Ariel said rolling her eyes.

"You thought so too?" Hannah paused, and looked at her cousin, before continuing, "We're not a blossoming romance, Ariel, trust me."

"Okay, then, who else is going to the movie with you?" Ariel asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Nobody." Hannah replied.

"So, it's just you, Detective Scanlon, and a dark movie theatre?" Ariel was smiling evilly.

"Basically, yes,"

"Did he ask you?"

Hannah glanced at Ariel, "What does it matter?"

"It doesn't really," Ariel said in such a breezy manner that Hannah automatically didn't believe her.

"He asked me."

"Because he's in love with you," Ariel nodded.

"_No_," Hannah shook her head, "Because he's my _friend_."

"I wish _I_ had friends who looked at me like _that_." Ariel sighed.

"Like what?" Hannah wrinkled her nose.

Ariel smiled slightly, before saying, "Like you make his whole day just by being there, and being you."

Hannah froze, she stopped straightening her hair, and didn't do anything for a few moments, before saying, "He doesn't look at me like that."

"Yeah, he does." Ariel nodded, "Gram agrees, I asked her."

"You and Gram talked about this, did you?" Hannah asked.

Ariel nodded, "Yeah, and Gram thinks that you two are in love too."

"Well, Gram is getting delusional," Hannah responded.

"Nuh-uh," Ariel shook her head, "Hannah, I think you're the one who's getting delusional. You're the _only_ person in this house who thinks that you and Lee Scanlon are _only_ friends."

"Really?" Hannah looked skeptical. "You're telling me that if I asked Uncle Joe if he thought that Lee and I were anything more than friends, he would say yes?"

Ariel nodded, "I asked him."

"You asked him." Hannah echoed, "Ariel, _why_—" She shook her head, "Stupid question, I know why you'd ask Uncle Joe. What I don't get is _why_ you're so obsessed with this idea."

"It's not just an idea, Hannah," Ariel said stubbornly, "I _know_ it's going to happen, and so does Gram, and so does Mom. I think even _you_ know it's going to happen, you're just too stubborn to admit it."

"Oh, hello, pot, it's kettle, you're black," Hannah said in a dry tone.

"_Hannah_," Ariel frowned at her cousin.

"What do you want me to say, Ariel? Yes, you're right, I know that Lee Scanlon is in love with me, but I've just been denying it because I _hate_ the idea of a respectable man liking me?" Hannah blinked at her cousin, "I honestly do _not_ think that Lee likes me anything more than friends."

"You never said anything about how _you_ feel," Ariel suddenly picked up on this.

"What does it matter?" Hannah tried to get off the subject.

"Hannah, do you like him?" Ariel asked.

Hannah shook her head, but said nothing, so Ariel said, "Then why can't you say it?"

"Just… because." Hannah mumbled, but she knew she had been caught.

"What happened?" Ariel asked.

"I… uh, I," Hannah stumbled over her own words, and was greatly relieved when there was a knock on her bedroom door.

"Hey, girls," Allison stuck her head in, "Hannah, Lee wanted me to tell you that he's thinking of leaving in 10 minutes."

"Okay," Hannah nodded.

"And, for the record, I like the blue top," Allison smiled, "Brings out your eyes."

"Thanks, Aunt Allison," Hannah smiled, and changed quickly, before looking at Ariel, "Don't say a word."

Ariel smirked, because of the fact that she knew that she was right, and said, "My lips are sealed."

* * *

Leaving the movie theatre, something didn't sit right with Hannah. She'd had a great time with Lee, and she had confirmed the fact that she was in love with him, but there was just something… whether it was herself, or something around her, something was off.

Lee could tell that something was wrong with Hannah. "Hey," He said, "What's up?"

Hannah bit her lip, "Something's wrong."

"With you? Are you sick?" Lee asked, raising his eyebrows, and looking concerned.

Hannah shook her head, looking thoughtful, "No… something… there's something bad that's going to happen."

The words had barely left her mouth when three things happened very quickly. One, a gunshot rang out across the parking lot, two, Lee instinctively pulled Hannah to the ground, and three, Hannah started whimpering.

"Hannah, are you o—" Lee stopped, and looked at Hannah. She was laying on her back, and tears were welling in her blue eyes, streaming down her face. Lee wasn't sure what was making her cry until he looked closely at her and realized she was bleeding.

Hannah had been shot in the abdomen.

"Oh, God," Lee murmured, and pressed his hand to where the blood was flowing from, while he grabbed his cell phone with his free hand, and dialed 911.

"_911. Please state your emergency_."

"Yes, um, this is Detective Lee Scanlon, I'm at the movie theatre downtown, in the parking lot, and someone's been shot."

"_Emergency vehicles will arrive shortly_."

Lee hung up his phone as Hannah started whimpering again, "It really hurts," She whispered.

"Sh," Lee kept applying pressure to the bullet hole, and brushed her hair away from her face with his free hand, "Hannah, just don't think about it, okay?"

Hannah closed her eyes, as the tears rolled down her cheeks, and took a shaking breath, "Is it really bad?"

Lee uncovered the wound, and quickly covered it back up, "Nah," He figured lying would be the best, "It's barely a scrape."

"I can tell when you're lying, you know," Hannah said, her voice weak, and her face quickly draining of color. "How bad is it?" She asked.

"It's not bad, Hannah," Lee reassured her, stroking her face comfortingly.

"Remind me to thank you for lying," Hannah coughed, and then said, "It was him, wasn't it?"

Lee nodded slowly, "Probably, We'll catch him. I promise you, Hannah, we'll catch him,"

Hannah nodded slowly, her eyelids drooping, "I'm so cold, and so… tired."

"Hannah, you've gotta stay awake," Lee said weakly, "Come on, the ambulance will be here soon."

Hannah leaned against his knee, her breathing was slowing, and she was struggling to keep her eyes open, "What if I die?"

"You're not going to die," Lee tried to sound confident.

"I don't know about that," Hannah whispered.

"Hannah," Lee shook her gently, "You have to stay awake."

"I'm so sleepy," Hannah murmured.

"Stay awake," Lee urged her, "Please stay awake, Hannah."

"Why?" He could barely hear her voice.

"Because…" Lee took a deep breath, "Because I love you,"

Hannah's blue eyes widened and she stared at him before she suddenly started gasping for breath, before she suddenly just… stopped.

* * *

**Dun, dun, dun.... Cliff hanger! Sorry, I know it's evil, but I swear you'll love me when I post the next chapter :) Thanks again for all the reviews, please keep it up!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Wow, guys, I'm so sorry for the long wait in between the last time I updated and now. The past few months have been crazy for me, but I promise I'll try to make my updates as regular as I possibly can now (: Thanks for being patient, please read and review!**

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**Chapter Seventeen.**

"Is Hannah gonna be okay?" Ariel was crying, her blue eyes were red-rimmed, and she was sniffling loudly.

"They doctors don't know yet, baby," Allison was teary also. They had left Marie and Bridget at home with Birdy, while she, Joe and Ariel waited in the hospital, with Lee, for Hannah to get out of surgery.

"She's been in there a long time, Mommy," Ariel whispered.

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Ariel," Joe said, "Hannah's a tough girl, and she's a fighter. She'll come out of this."

"Your dad's right, Ariel," Lee spoke up for the first time. He looked horrible, he was wearing his light blue shirt that was stained with blood (_Hannah's blood_, he thought, shuddering), and he was incredibly pale. He sounded tired, "Hannah's going to pull through this."

"I hope you're right." Ariel's voice was soft, as she wiped at the tears.

At that moment, the doctor exited the OR, "Mrs. DuBois, we have successfully extracted the bullet from Hannah's intestines. She's under sedative, but she's stabilized nicely."

Allison could've kissed the doctor, "Thank you, thank you so much!"

* * *

"_Hi, Little Dreamer,"_

_Hannah opened her eyes blearily. She felt light and airy, and didn't feel any pain where the bullet had entered her body. She blinked a few times before realized she was in a place that was completely white, and her aunt, Allison, dressed completely in white, was standing before her._

"_Aunt Allison?" Hannah's voice was croaky, "Where are we?"_

"_Well, it's a little place I like to call purgatory."_

"_I'm dead?" Hannah said numbly. _

"_Well, not exactly. You were shot." Allison said._

"_Yeah, I know that," Hannah nodded._

"_Your body hasn't decided whether or not you're going to wake up," Allison said, "You've lost a lot of blood."_

"_So, why aren't I dead?" Hannah asked softly._

"_Because it's not in the big picture for you to die yet, little one," Allison said._

"_What do you mean?" Hannah cocked her head to one side._

_Allison took a deep breath, "There's so much left for you to do in the world, Hannah."_

"_That's not a real reason for me to stay alive, Aunt Allison," Hannah said, "Peoples lives are cut short all the time, and the big guy in the sky doesn't keep them alive because there's a lot left for them to do in the world. There has to be more to it than that."_

_Allison looked at her niece, and said, "You're meant to save him."_

"_Save who?" Hannah looked confused._

"_Lee." Allison replied._

"_How am I supposed to save him?" Hannah asked._

_Allison smiled wryly, "I'm not supposed to tell you that."_

"_Well, you could tell me…" Hannah looked thoughtful, "Do you mean saving him figuratively or literally?"_

"_Hannah," Allison shook her head, "I can't tell you. But what I can tell you is that someone really needs you, and it isn't Lee."_

"_Who needs me?" _

"_Your mother."_

* * *

Hannah's blue eyes flew open, and she started choking on the tube that was helping her breathe.

"Hannah? Hannah, calm down, sweetheart," Lee's voice instantly made her stop thrashing, "Just wait, we'll get a doctor in here,"

Hannah blinked a few times, and then the doctor arrived in the room, and carefully took the tube out of her mouth. Lee held a glass of water to her mouth, and the doctor said, "Ms. Benoit, how are you feeling?"

"Like I was run over by a zamboni." Hannah's voice was hoarse.

The doctor and Lee both cracked a grin, "Well, that's to be expected. No severe pain, no aches, though?"

Hannah shook her head, "Uh-uh,"

"Well, I'll give you and your… boyfriend, a few moments, before I come in to check you over, okay?"

Hannah nodded, and after the doctor left the room, Hannah looked at Lee. He looked extremely relieved, and he said, "Hey."

"Hi," Hannah smiled drowsily. "What happened?"

"Well, you got shot, Hannah," Lee said.

"I remember _that_," Hannah said, "What happened after that?"

"Well, the ambulance came," Lee said, "And I came with you to the hospital, and they did a surgery and, well, here we are,"

"Did you get the guy who did it?" Hannah looked at him expectantly.

"Well, did I, or did I not, promise you that we would get the guy?" Lee looked at her.

"You got him?" Hannah felt breathless, "Really?"

Lee nodded, "Really. I'm leaving to interrogate him right after I leave here."

"You're leaving?" Hannah said softly.

"I'll be back," Lee said, smiling.

Hannah nodded slowly, and then said, "Did I imagine the last part?"

"What last part?"

"That part where you said something," Hannah said carefully, "Something about how you feel about me?"

Lee suddenly looked slightly embarrassed, and Hannah said, "Did you mean it?"

Lee looked at Hannah seriously, "Of course I meant it, Hannah, I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

Hannah smiled, "Okay, good."

Lee raised an eyebrow, "And why is that good?"

"Because," Hannah smiled shyly, "I love you too."

Hannah may have been imagining it, but it appeared that Lee was blushing. "Really?" Lee raised his eyebrows.

"You don't need to be such a girl about it, though," Hannah informed him, grinning.

"Ha-ha," Lee rolled his eyes, "Listen, I have to go and interrogate this guy, but, um, let's talk when I get back."

Hannah nodded, "Sounds like a plan. Now, go and kick some ass."

"Hannah Lucille Benoit, is that the language of a lady?" Birdy asked, entering the room.

"When have I _ever_ had the language of a lady?" Hannah asked, her blue eyes sparkling.

"This is a good point," Birdy nodded fairly, "I think you got _that_ from your mother, little girl, because you certainly _never_ got that from me." She kissed the top of Hannah's head, "How are you doing?"

"Better," Hannah smiled.

"Good, I'm glad,"

"I'm going to go to the station," Lee said, "I'll see you later," Hannah supposed this was supposed aimed at both herself, and her grandmother, but Lee looked at her, and Hannah's heart fluttered.

"Bye," Hannah breathed, smiling slightly.

Lee left, and Birdy looked at her granddaughter, "Have something you want to share with the club, little dreamer?"

"You were right, Gram," Hannah said in a slightly dreamy tone, "I'm in love with Lee Scanlon."

Birdy's face broke into a large grin, "Well, I'm certainly proud of you for being a big enough girl to admit it."

Hannah smiled, and then said, "Um, Gram… while I was under sedative… I had a dream."

"Well, sedatives make you see some funny things, like that time I had that surgery on my hip—" Birdy stopped and shook her head, "What did you dream about, Hannah?"

"Well, Aunt Allison was there, and she was saying I was in purgatory." Hannah said.

"Purgatory?" Birdy stared at her, "You mean, you dreamt that you were dead?"

"Yeah," Hannah nodded, "Anyway, this like, angel version of Aunt Allison was telling me that it wasn't my time to go, and stuff, and then she said that I was meant to save Lee, and _then_ she said that there was somebody else who needed me."

"Well, everyone needs you, sweetheart," Birdy nodded.

"Sure, uh-huh," Hannah said absently, "But she said… she said it was Gisele who needed me."

"Gisele?" Birdy repeated, looking a little stunned.

"Yeah," Hannah nodded, still feeling kind of dopey, "But she didn't tell me why." Birdy said nothing, and Hannah said, "Do you know something, Gram?"

"Hannah," Birdy sighed.

"If you know something, you should tell me," Hannah said, getting a feeling she wasn't going to like what she was going to hear.

"Sweetie, maybe you should wait until you feel better—"

"I feel _fine_!" Hannah said hotly, "Tell me!"

* * *

"Hello, Christopher Perkins. I'm Detective Lee Scanlon." Lee sat across from a guy who made him physically feel sick. Christopher Perkins was in his late 40s, his brown hair was graying and scraggly, and he looked gaunt. He was also the owner of a 1976 Chevrolet Impala, in midnight blue, the same Chevrolet Impala that had been circling the Dubois home. It wasn't that though, it was the fact that if Lee had been too late protecting Hannah, Christopher Perkins could've had her in his grubby hands.

"Detective," Christopher Perkins smirked, showing yellowing teeth, "You were the one protecting the pretty one."

Lee had to hold back the urge not to throttle the man sitting across from him, "Yeah, that's me."

"Mm," Perkins smiled, "So, I've already confessed to killing all those pretty, pretty girls, what do _you_ want from _me_, Detective?"

"Well, I'd like to know why you did it," Lee was kind of scared to know why he did it, but he didn't let on.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm _crazy_," Perkins said, smiling madly.

"That much is apparent to me," Lee nodded, "There's gotta be more to it than that, I mean, seven girls dead—"

"Seven? No, no, there was eight," Perkins corrected.

"Eight?" Lee repeated, "I only counted seven university girls, and you didn't kill Hannah Benoit."

"I did kill the seven university girls," Perkins nodded, "But I also killed Claire."

The hair on the back of Lee's neck stood up, as he remembered Hannah's dreams, "Well, who's Claire, Christopher?"

"Claire was the head of the high school cheerleaders in my senior year of high school," Perkins said, smiling as though reliving a good memory, "I asked her to go to the Spring Fling with me, and she said no."

"So you killed her?"

"Well, she decided that embarrassing me in front of the whole school was necessary," Perkins said, "So, that night when Claire was on her way home from her shift at _Jeans Galore and More_, and I thought I would try to talk to her."

"What went wrong?" Lee asked.

"She wouldn't listen." Perkins shrugged, "So I killed her."

"And you killed all those university students because?"

"They looked like her," Perkins shrugged again, "And… I'm crazy."

"Well, you'll have a lot of time to be crazy in prison," Lee stood up.

"You didn't even _ask_ why I wanted the pretty little girl you were protecting," Perkins said, causing Lee to stop, "She was special."

"I don't want to hear that you thought she was special," Lee spat.

"Ooh, defensive," Perkins smirked again, "She wasn't just special to me, she was special to you too."

Lee didn't want to hear him talking about Hannah. "Fine, what was so special about her?"

"She had a light inside her that the other ones didn't," Perkins said, smiling wickedly, "I could tell, she'd been through a hard time, but she had an outlook on life, a way of looking at things that all the other girls didn't have. And I wanted to get to her _so_ badly." He paused, "But you never let that happen."

"I'm glad I never let that happen," Lee said in a short voice. "Because then, I don't think I could be held responsible for my actions." And with that, he walked out, feeling sick to his stomach.

* * *

When Lee returned to the hospital, he had every intention of walking into Hannah's room, and kissing her like there was no tomorrow, whether Allison and Joe were in there, or not.

But when he reached Hannah's room, she wasn't there.

Birdy was, however.

"Lee Scanlon," She nodded at him and smiled tiredly.

"Hi, Birdy… where's Hannah?"

"Listen, sweetie, we have to talk about that," Birdy said carefully, "Hannah… she's gone."

"Gone?" Lee repeated, not believing what he was hearing.

Birdy nodded, "Gone, as in… from the hospital, from Phoenix, from Arizona…"

Lee didn't even ask why Hannah had left, he turned on his heel and left the room, feeling close to tears.


	18. Chapter 18

**I'm so so sorry that it's been so long but I've had a few hard months lately, we lost someone close to us, and there were exams and stuff (also, thank you to the one person who "reviewed" and made my bad week in December even worse. if you don't have anything constructive to say, please keep it to yourself). Anyway, I should be able to finish up the updates on this as long as you guys are still interested. Please read and review, thank you (:**

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**Chapter Eighteen.**

Two weeks later, Allison received a phone call.

"Hello?"

"_Hi, Aunt Allison, it's Hannah._"

"Hannah!" Allison hadn't heard from her since the night she had left, "How are you doing?"

"_I've been better. I went to the doctor's today, and they say that my stomach looks good,"_

"That's great, sweetie!" Allison exclaimed, "How's, um… how's home?"

"_This isn't home, Aunt Allison. Phoenix is home,_" Hannah sighed, "_But, uh, I have good news._"

"Oh, really?" Allison was interested.

"_How would you feel about driving out to the airport around 7 o'clock tonight to pick up your favorite niece?_"

"You're coming home?!" Allison felt as though she might cry, "You know I'll be there!"

"_I'll see you then._"

"Oh, I love you, sweetheart." Allison said, smiling brightly.

"_I love you too_."

Allison hung up the phone, still smiling brilliantly, "GIRLS! Come on, we have to get ready! HANNAH'S COMING HOME!"

* * *

Allison, Ariel, Marie and Bridget stood in the airport, Marie and Bridget hold a large sign that they had made, reading **Welcome Home, Hannah!**, and when Hannah came limping out of the gate, Ariel reached her first. Her platinum hair shining, she threw her arms around her cousin, "I missed you!"

"I missed you too!" Hannah exclaimed, "All of you," She said as she scooped Marie and Bridget into a tight hug, "I promise I won't leave like that again,"

"Good!" Marie exclaimed.

"Yes, good," Allison nodded, as she hugged her niece tightly, "You had me worried sick about you."

"You don't need to worry about little old me, Aunt Allison," Hannah smiled into her aunts embrace, "I'm a big girl."

"I know you are," Allison kissed her forehead, "But I still worry about you. Because you're a Benoit, and Benoit's are notorious for attracting trouble. _Especially_ you, little girl."

"Well, I'm hoping to stay away from trouble, for a little while at least," Hannah said, "Now, who's ready to blow this popsicle stand?"

* * *

That night, after the younger girls were in bed, Allison knocked on the door to Hannah's room.

"Come in!" Hannah said cheerily.

Allison pushed the door open and found Hannah sitting on her bed in a pair of worn out Snoopy pajama bottoms, and a white t-shirt. She was reading one of Ariel's _Twilight_ books and the faint sound of Taylor Swift flowed through the room.

"Hi, little dreamer," Allison smiled.

"Hey, Aunt Allison," Hannah smiled back, "For the record, I would never date a vampire."

"Oh, no?" Allison raised her eyebrows.

"No way, Edward Cullen is a _creep_, and apparently it's super risky dating a vampire." Hannah said.

"Oh, so it's less risky to date a cop?" Allison asked, smirking slightly.

Hannah's pale face blushed bright pink, "We're not dating," Her voice squeaked slightly, a sure fire sign that she was lying.

"Okay, so not officially, but you two are in love." Allison nodded.

"Who told you?" Hannah asked.

Allison looked at her niece, "Birdy told me that she heard a very interesting conversation between you and Detective Scanlon. A conversation in which you said "I love you too"?"

Hannah blushed darker, "Yeah, um… that happened."

"But you're not dating him," Allison nodded, "That makes total and complete sense to me."

Hannah looked at her, "Well, we didn't really get much of a chance to talk after. He left to interrogate that Perkins guy who was all over the news, and I left for Jersey. I wouldn't be surprised if he hates me by now."

"He wouldn't hate you. You got Birdy to explain it, right?"

"I don't know how well she explained it, Birdy's never been one for being compassionate, or understanding the fact that I'm capable of loving someone and being loved." Hannah murmured.

"Did you call him?" Allison asked.

Hannah nodded, "I called him twice, and he didn't pick up. I left him messages to call me, and he didn't call back. He hates me, Aunt Allison."

"He doesn't _hate_ you, Hannah, he _loves_ you." Allison said confidently, "Listen, tomorrow, I hate to go in to see Devalos, and Lee's probably going to be there, do you want to come?"

"Could I?" Hannah looked hopeful.

Allison nodded, "I don't see why not, sweetie."

* * *

The next day, Allison and Hannah entered the DA's office, and Hannah felt strangely nervous. She'd never liked a guy this much, so she'd never had a reason to chase after them.

"You two will work things out, don't worry," Allison assured her niece, "He really does love you, Hannah. You just need to show him that you love him too, and that you're not going to run off again."

"Running off in the first place wasn't really my idea." Hannah said.

"I know that, sweetie, just like I know that you would've liked to stay in Phoenix instead of flying to Jersey, or at least have waited until you could explain it to him properly," Allison nodded, "But Lee doesn't know that." She looked at her niece, "He's been burned by women in the past, Hannah, and I don't think he knows that you're different from the rest of them." She brushed her niece's dark hair out of her face, "But he will."

"If you say so, Aunt Allison," Hannah muttered, feeling nervous again.

Both Devalos and Lee were running late, so Allison suggested that they walk down to the coffee while they waited. Unfortunately, on their way down to get coffee they ran into Lee.

Running into Lee wasn't the problem. The problem was that he was with someone else, a tall, red-haired someone who distinctly resembled Hannah's art professor, Lena Everett.

Lee and Lena both turned to see who had walked down the stairs, and when Lee spotted Hannah, he gaped at her.

But as soon as Hannah absorbed the fact that the man she was in love with was getting coffee with her professor, she looked very confused, and turned on her heel, walking out of the lobby.

* * *

Allison found Hannah sitting on the hood of the car, crying, when she went outside to find her niece.

"Are you okay?"

"No," Hannah mumbled, wiping at her tears angrily. "I'm pissed."

"I'm sure it didn't mean anything, Hannah," Allison said, inching closer to her niece.

Hannah looked as though she was going to say more, when suddenly Lee walked up to them.

"Oh, uh, I guess I'll be right back." Allison hurried off and left Hannah and Lee to stare at each other awkwardly, before Lee said, "What are you doing here?"

"I _live_ here," Hannah said as thought it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Really? Because I got the impression you didn't want to live here anymore." Lee said.

"Well, that was rather stupid of you, then, wasn't it?" Hannah crossed her arms over her chest.

"How is that stupid of me?" Lee asked, "Your grandmother told me you left."

"That's all she told you?" Hannah looked disbelieving, "Oh, God," She shook her head.

"What more was she supposed to tell me?"

"She was supposed to tell you _where_ I was going, and _why_ I was leaving," Hannah sighed.

"Where did you go?" Lee asked. "And what the hell was so important that you couldn't wait half an hour?"

"I went to New Jersey," Hannah shot back, "To see my _mother_, who apparently is dying from _liver cancer_," She pursed her lips together, and set her jaw, looking very much like Allison when she was angry, "I couldn't wait for half an hour because my grandmother bought me a plane ticket _before_ I got shot."

"Your mother has liver cancer?" Lee repeated softly.

"Yes, and if you answered my phone calls, you'd _know_."

Lee looked at her, "I'm sorry. I thought you were one of those girls who said "I love you", and then took off."

"How could you think that?" Hannah asked, looking at him incredulously, "You honestly think I'm one of those girls, even after everything I told you?"

Lee looked down at the ground, before looking back at Hannah, "I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Obviously," Hannah's voice was harsher than he'd expected, "And, like ignoring my calls isn't bad enough. I come home, and find you out on a date with my professor. _God_, that's classy."

"Hannah,"

"What? You were pissed? You were hurt? You were frustrated? What, Lee? What the _hell_ can you tell me to make me feel better right now?" Hannah was crying again.

"I don't know," Lee murmured, "I don't know what to say to make you feel better right now, except I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well," Hannah stood up, and sniffled, "Sorry isn't good enough right now."

* * *

Later that night, Lee was at home, feeling miserable as the rain poured outside, when there was a knock on his apartment door.

He dragged himself off his couch, and walked tot he door. He pulled it open, and found a drenched Hannah standing on the other side, looking every bit as beautiful as she usually did. Her dark hair was hanging in long tendrils, her clothes were sticking to her, and her dark eyelashes were framing her pretty eyes in awkward triangles.

"Hannah?" He was confused as to why she was there.

"Look, you're stupid." Hannah said in a completely serious tone, "You're stupid, and an idiot, and I don't even know why I'm here right now. And I'm so mad at you, I can't even _think_ straight." She took a deep breath, "If you were any other moron in the world who had decided that I wasn't good enough, and that you would rather date someone more your age, I would've dropped you without a second thought."

Lee looked at her, interested to see where this was going. She continued, "But you're not any other moron in the world, Lee Scanlon, you're the only moron in the world who makes me _so mad_, and gets under my skin so I can't even breathe without feeling pissed off and confused." She crossed her arms over her chest, "And why do I feel like this, you may ask? Because _I'm_ an idiot too."

"Why are you an idiot, Hannah?" Lee looked at her.

"Because even though you're stupid, and an idiot who makes me so mad I feel like screaming, and you go on dates with my art professor, and ignore my phone calls, I'm _still_ in love with you." Hannah still sounded mad. "I love you, Lee Scanlon, and I'm an idiot."

"It's okay that you're an idiot," Lee nodded, "Because I'm an idiot too," He pushed the door open wider, "And I'm an idiot who loves you, Hannah Benoit. Not your stupid art professor who took me out to coffee _once_, and it's not going to happen again, not ever, because you know what?" He cupped her face with his hands, "You're the girl for me."

Hannah smiled faintly, "God, it's about time you noticed." Before kissing him.


End file.
